FOOD, INC AVENUE

TASTE TEST

2011-02-25T01:44:00.004-05:00

So tonight I was at a group dinner meeting with about 12 colleagues. I was concerned about a random dinner meeting, but the host said not to worry...the menu was organic.

Well I wish I had a better photo to show you my tongue! Even 4 hrs after dinner my tongue feels like I've been licking a brick for hours. I have circled the raised taste buds that are really painful. They look like mini cysts.
The sad thing is I just started back on organic last sunday after a month long stint on industrial so I had to go through a major detox once again. I'm worn out from it.

It usually takes minutes up to a few hours to see what histamine response I will have to the food. Too bad I didn't try to come with a histamine blocker, but I REALLY wanted everything to be organic.

Perhaps the chef was confusing organic with locally sourced?
I'll worry about it in the morning. Right now I need to go nurse this migraine!

INDUSTRIAL FOOD REVISITED

2011-02-18T19:21:00.005-05:00

I'm tired, cranky, bitchy, and I want to throw everyone out the window. Not too long after the first blizzard here in jan in NYC I decided to see what would happen if I fully went back to conventional food. I decided to give myself 30 days to the experiment. 40lbs later!!!!!!!!!!
I have to take an antihistamine if I eat fruits or veggies. My stomach is swollen and hardened.

What's the difference in my diet?
Let's start with breakfast. Organic breakfast is 1lb of eggs with cheese. Industrial breakfast is three eggs with cheese.
Lunch is a fresh rosemary wrap with either chicken, carrots, 2 triangles of cheese, onions, olives, cabbage, and some pesto. Organic lunch is Chipotle's enormous burrito with chicken, extra cheese, guacamole, lettuce, peppers......a 350 calorie difference.
Dinner is still usually fish or chicken, but now I've added various vegetables to it.

Basically I'm eating smaller quantities and 100's of calories less and gaining massive amounts of weight. My hands are so swollen right now I'm surprised I can even type.
I got so depressed the other day I finally went for the sweet potato fries with the wrap. How is a person who was so together so out of control?

So now in the last week I'm craving junk, I haven't worked out, and I want to curl up into a ball and disappear. Who is this person???
I feel like Susan Powter screaming STOP THE INSANITY! As I saw the weight packing on I decided to order SENSA advertised all over the internet. It's a shaker you shake all over your food. I couldn't last even 4 days with it. I felt like the girl who turned into a blueberry from chewing gum that Willy Wonka told her not to chew. I even emailed them to tell them I had a reaction, but no one got back to me. What is in that stuff?!!!

The reason I took industrial food detour boys and girls is because I hated how obsessed I had to be about the source of my food. I hated that I was excluded on so many social occasions or felt that I had to exclude myself so that I could avoid talking about it. Who knew food was such a central part of our lives? I hated that I felt like an outcast and the work that I had to put into it. But you know what? I'm trading it all back in for organic because nothing felt as good as organic did. I think my body's not going to give me a choice anyway. ooooh forgot to mention the ghastly breakouts I had. Really not good for business!

So the final chapter of this story is if I go back to that big burrito pictured there on the left will I lose the weight? Will it fall off as fast if at all? I'm just working organic back into the diet again. I've been so depressed that it is taking every ounce of effort to get back there again.

Thanks to all of you who have been following me on this journey by the way. Your messages are encouraging and I know we can change our food around to make everything better!

xo

ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY

2011-01-08T00:10:00.006-05:00

I am just hours away from my one year anniversary of committing to organic. It has been quite the experience! Without trying I kept off a total of more than 50 lbs last year. Initially I had lost 70 and decided that I could play around and experiment with foods. I have no doubt I will lose 50 more!

I now officially know that organic is not hype. (There is marketing hype that makes people think they're eating healthy or organic.) My body will not tolerate conventional foods. It reacts in so many ways that are really unpleasant. For instance I just found out that conventional chocolate now gives me migraines. I have to figure out what is in it that causes that, but that has been my immediate response on two occasions (within about an hour). The pus-filled boils I get from ingesting pesticides are the worst because I never know how long it will take for them to heal and they leave a nasty scar on my very white skin. :(

One bit of wisdom I would like to pass on is beware of marketing. Really read your labels and know what it is that you are putting into your body. The perfect example of misleading labels was from a chocolate bar I picked out from Ghirardelli a few days ago. The labeling says 100% natural. The back of the label says in the ingredients HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP. According to the FDA "products containing high fructose corn syrup cannot be considered 'natural' and should not be labeled as such'.

HELLO this is my point. A company puts on their packaging 100% natural and yet it still gets to market and past the FDA. NO ONE is going to monitor what goes into your mouth or on your skin except for you. Don't rely on others for trust. You run a risk putting your life in other people's hands. This is the most valuable lesson I have learned!

For me organic itself is not hype. My weight loss has shown me that my body can't process these chemicals even if they are coming from whole foods. The hormones really slow down my system. The pesticides are a whole other issue.

The journey does not stop here. I plan on checking in about once a month because now I am motivated to go to the next step: creating a network of friends, restaurants, and farmers. We need to get back to food basics. We need to learn to ask questions. The most difficult thing that everyone from the outside looking in has told me is: organic is too expensive and it's hard for me to find it. It's not true if you know what to look for. You need to eat in season as we discussed in Alicia Silverstone's book "The Kind Diet". Trader Joe's is fairly priced as well. A friend of mine has friends that are going to start setting up gardens for people as a service in New Jersey. There is so much out there we can do to make things better if we just put one ounce of effort in.

I'm also going to start a database of farmers and restaurants. The temporary site is at http://organic-farmers.blogspot.com/

I'm going to ask each of my friends and their friends to find one good place that serves actual organic or biodynamic products.

Welcome to 2011!

ONE WEEK LEFT

2011-01-01T18:02:00.008-05:00

Disappointed does not begin to express how I feel about the last few weeks.

For starters I allowed myself to eat conventional food where organic was unavailable. Many "organic" restaurants who have the same problem sourcing will do the same thing as well without telling the consumer. The thing is I was fully aware I was not eating organic. I have no one to blame but myself.

Without surprise I'm paying for it now. My stomach feels beat up! I have open sores all over my body. My mouth has been so raw that I feel like it's been burned with hot pizza and it's never recovered. My hands, ankles, and face are really swollen.

Since I also went home to Kentucky (exhausted after working 22+ hour days for the last month) I decided to not burden myself with finding or eating organic. I ate mostly home cooked meals. I feel like I've gained 20 lbs.

New Year's eve I shared an order of non-organic chicken nachos with black beans, mango, and lots of other toppings. It had no taste. It was like I was eating cardboard with hot sauce.

So I decided I would go back to home base: Gusto Organics. I had a burger with sweet potato fries and a salad and all I can say is ahhhhhh. I already feel the difference. Don't get me wrong. I still feel beat up, but at least now I feel a bit more nourished and not as lethargic. In fact my goal for this final week is to try to eat at Gusto as much as possible and see what that will do for me.

As a side note I thought I would share this photo with you. My stepmother is holding a very large apple to the right. On the left she has a washington apple. What in the world are they doing with the apples in Washington??????? That apple was the size of a melon or half the size of her head!!!

BLOWING UP

2010-12-05T15:26:00.006-05:00

It's been a rough several weeks. I had the opportunity (thanks to my friend Ameena) to rent a space in Tribeca to open up M.S. APOTHECARY (which has been a virtual store up until now). It has been kicking my ass trying to carry the two businesses right now (Beauty By Mary Schook).

That would explain why once again I have neglected this blog, BUT I have been staying true to the organic as usual. The only time I caved was when we hosted Gordon Ramsay's baker for our Holiday Grand Opening. I had to taste test the product for our upcoming events. I'm such a snob when it comes to cupcakes and up until now I never liked a cupcake in the entire city of New York!

So anyway back to my strategy that I was going to tell you about. I had joined Organic Liason, Kirstie Alley's new weight loss/lifestyle company. I was looking forward to my product kit which includes 100% USDA certified organic supplements. One product is a beverage you drink which contains chromium. It just made me pee like crazy all day. Then it has a beverage that you drink in the evening that reminds me of a product called CALM. To top it off they have a product called Nightingale which I'm not a huge fan of. I researched the L-Tryptophan in there which seemed to give me some problems and decided I couldn't do it anymore.

All-in-all the supplement portion of the program is not something that suits my lifestyle right now. I'm dealing with 2-4 hour interrupted sleep nights because there is too much work that has to get done and when I rely on other people to help me they have been dropping the ball which only doubles my workload!!!

Despite the fact that I can't really use the program with my current lifestyle I felt it was important to still be a part of the Organic Liason system. They have a geolocator where you type in the zipcode on their site and they will tell you where you can find restaurants and stores that are organic. Brilliant right? I'm currently at 10013. I punched it in and found out the bar, Walker's within 100 yards of the store was listed. I just came from Walker's and NOTHING was organic. I think the wait staff had to try their best to contain themselves when I asked! They double checked with the chef and the chef said they will carry organic chicken at night. Sorry, but this is unacceptable. I had a limited amount of time to try to grab something to eat and this just made me very unhappy! I don't have time to now go and research other restaurants that they have listed. When I get a moment after the holiday season I will definitely be looking into this. Again what a bummer.

Part two of this entry is about the fact that now that the weather has changed I have noticed many menus have not. While many restaurants say that their food is organic I have a hard time believing it. I keep getting reactions after I eat certain foods.
Many would argue that the lack of sleep that I am getting is the source of the problem, but my response is I never got much sleep before. The stress has definitely increased, but it's good stress and lots of exciting changes that I live for!!!

I go back to the interview that I did earlier in the year with the Alberto, the owner of Gusto Organics. He told me that many restaurants will buy a certain number of organic chickens and then they will buy the rest of the chickens from the industrial companies while still claiming that they are organic. I trust his opinion only because I have seen Gusto Organics run out of their skirt steak for weeks which is probably their top selling dinner!!! Now that is loyalty to the customer and hopefully it pays off for him eventually!

So for now I will have to pray that I don't gain too much weight from trusting people when they say something is organic. It makes me sad and reminds me that there is such a long way to go.

Back to work! Got a store to run!!!

SKIN ALERT

2010-11-07T21:17:00.007-05:00

Another experiment took place yesterday. I went to a wedding out of town. Given special circumstances I decided I was not going to think about what I would or wouldn't eat at the wedding. I had heaping amounts of stuffed grape leaves, only water to drink, meatballs, rice paella, potato chips, greek salad, cheese, a few bites of pasta, and lots of cake. I stayed away from most of the raw vegetables because I knew if they weren't organic I'd get an insane migraine. So didn't matter. Talk about the worst food hangover on the planet!!! This is the first conventional cake that I've had all year. I already have a gluten intolerance. I feel like I've been vomiting from food poisoning for the past 24 hours. My tummy is really upset!!!! (p.s. I did not vomit). My waist is enormous. My hands, face, legs.....all of it is swollen. What's worst of all is the angry acne (as pictured here) that's just appeared on my face and chest. There are some pretty sizable blisters on my legs as well. I will NEVER do this again. I have learned my lesson.

The next thing to also talk about this week is the seasons have changed. NY is very cold. Somehow menus at some of the "organic" places don't seem to have changed with the seasons. That being said I have started to pick up some weight. I eat less now. I'm eating a bit more fried fish. Still having my ice cream. Still working out every day. The routine hasn't changed, but looks like the food source has?

Is Gustorganics the only place I can trust? I really wish I could eat there all week, but I JUST don't have the time or a consistent schedule. I'm really friendly with many other places, but even the guacamole at Chipotle is looking a little fluorescent right now....hmmmm.

Next week I will talk about some new plans I will have in place. In the meantime I have to get back to my day job....or rather my 24 hour a day job!

Thanks again for visiting!!!

OBESOGENS

2010-11-07T21:15:00.003-05:00

Check out the blog http://whatsupwithred.blogspot.com/

Marnie puts in a lot more explanation of obesogens and what you should know about plastics, chemicals, etc.

Great job Marnie!

ORGANIC CENTRAL

2010-10-20T00:33:00.004-04:00

This Sunday I'm going to be away on business so I am actually writing an entry in advance.
For anyone that is wanting to go organic and is looking for awesome resources this is your link!
It's the consumer's guide to buying organic. I wish I had seen this closer to the beginning of my journey. I can't believe it's coming to an end!
I can see I'm starting to relax on my experiments a bit which only ends up giving breakouts, stomach aches, or food comas. I imagine at this point if I wanted to stop doing organic I really couldn't. The natural thing right now is not really working either. It's been putting a little back on to my midsection. Getting fat off of vegetables? Wait that's why I started this in the first place. I was getting fat off of one salad a day with no dressing, chicken, egg, and avocado were my fats in there.
Now I really eat like a pig and lose weight.
Go figure. Wonder if it has anything to do with eating organic? ;)

MISERY LOVES COMPANY

2010-10-13T14:11:00.003-04:00

I'm so excited to see that Glamour Magazine (November issue) did a big junk food test. It begins on page 147. They did a day by day account of what was consumed and how the writer felt after those days. It's like an editorial version of Supersize Me.

I found it fascinating only because I don't really eat crap. Fried foods make me throw up because of the grease and sugar makes me moody. Chocolate around my period is a whole different story. Pastas and breads make me crash and burn and I haven't touched a soda in years unless it's in an alcoholic beverage and that was more than a year ago.

On day one Beth Shapouri, the writer/tester(from Kentucky) had a sugar crash.
Day 2 was "headache central".
Day 3 she had a cheese hangover (food coma).
Day 4 she had roller coaster hunger.
Day 5 she had the jitters.
Day 6 she had a breakdown.
Day 7 she had a problem finding her full button.
Boy can I relate to that feeling. I would know that I was eating a lot of food, but I couldn't seem to satisfy my hunger. Most other times I would just not eat. It was always one extreme or another and the only thing that seems to help it is going to the gym on a daily basis or staying active.

Sometimes I wish our bodies were a little more intelligently designed, but actually we are. We have become so busy and out of touch with ourselves that we don't really know what we want and soon enough ads and media are there to pick up the slack and tell you what you want and need. It's pretty insane really.

I really suggest reading this article. It's like a mini version of what my journey has been like. I actually still have not been trying to lose weight right now like I said I finally would. My life has been truly insane. I did run across some very interesting HCG however, but I would prefer waiting until after my organic journey is done. My life and plans change minute to minute so we'll see.

Oh my organic ice cream moved in next to my office!!!! I've literally been eating ice cream every day and still looking good!

See you guys next week!

Mary Schook

BIODYNAMIC

2010-09-26T14:13:00.005-04:00

EVERYONE is carrying around a glass of wine at EATALY here in New York City. It's quite beautiful and romantic. It also reminds me of the days of gluttony in old Roman Times I used to read about.

I am constantly roaming through Eataly to find organic products. It gives me a little sense of the days of when I used to live in Italy. Eataly is definitely fresh and natural.[But I have now discovered eating that way makes me gain weight in hyper speed and also gives me a lot of headaches.]

One of the places I paid a visit to was the wine shoppe attached to Eataly. The clerk was quite helpful and went on to suggest biodynamic wines they carry in the restaurants. He also introduced me to the Italian wine guide that would list wines as either conventional, natural, or organic.

Biodynamic is a big buzz word that kept coming up so I decided to investigate what biodynamic was. It actually sounds like the way farming used to really be, but it's only been around since 1924. There's a site http://www.biodynamics.com/ that explains a lot more about Biodynamic and what farms are doing it.

On the Biodynamic list for New York is a place called Roxybury Farm. You should check out the site. It really seems like a place I would like to venture to in my "spare" time. They are basically a food share, but I haven't had time to immerse myself into all of the site.
The fruit is not organic.

As I'm writing this I'm already getting another splitting headache from a store that says their produce is organic.....being on organic patrol can be exhausting and disappointing.

See you next Sunday!

MS

EAT PRAY LOVE

2010-09-19T23:18:00.005-04:00

For the last two weeks I have been immersed with Fashion week and clients returning without a minute to spare here. During that time I have had the great fortune of dining at Mario Batali's new place next to my office called Eataly.

Italian men love their women. They love to watch them eat good food, because "life's too short". Actually in all honesty they prefer seeing women make their food, but at Eataly sitting at the Pesce counter makes me feel like the movie Eat, Pray, Love. For me it's a wonderful dining experience (especially the salmon roe and bronzini).

Eataly made me decide and wonder if I was taking this ORGANIC thing too seriously. I mean the whole point of this experiment was to figure out how my body reacts to food. So for the past two weeks I have been eating "natural" and "locally sourced".

Aside from the mini egg rolls at the wedding I went to last night at the New Leaf Cafe along with a couple of bites of cupcake I have gained sooo much weight. I get major headaches, bloating, and worst of all I am NOT satisfied when I eat.

I totally forgot the feeling of not being satisfied. It's like you just can't stop eating. There's no off button. It's horrible!!!
My stomach is a bowling ball. My hands are swollen. I keep getting bags and swelling under my eyes which indicates the liver is going into overtime. My face and neck are swollen. I just can't do "natural" anymore.

Many people have laughed about the organic idea. They tell me that organic is a joke. I can understand their frustration. I can't tell you how many times someone told me something was organic and then I would have a reaction. After I would have a reaction I would go back to the owner of the restaurant or to the source only to find that the food was NOT organic!!! They really didn't think it was a big deal.

So many people are throwing in the towel saying what's the point? Even this week I posted on my facebook that I needed to start handing out violations for all of the false marketing and deception going on.

The body doesn't lie. The only place in all of New York I actually feel safe is Gustorganics. I don't get headaches, breakouts, or indigestion from their food. If the world could only be a Gustorganics.

The owner agrees that USDA is not perfect, but it is a start. It takes time to make a change and perfect things.

So for all of the doubters out there I am now taking this journey to a whole new level. For over 8 months I have not been trying to lose weight and I have lost over 70 lbs. Now I'm actually going to start to try to lose weight and see what happens.

Another thing I need to talk about is my schedule. I have too many irons in the fire at the moment. It takes a lot of time and energy to blog so I am now going to only do posts every sunday. I appreciate you guys following my journey and all of the feedback you continue to give me. It has really helped me to continue blogging on about this.

Please continue to send me your stories. I will keep you posted on my journey.
xoxo mary

PETITION FOR BETTER FOOD KY!

2010-08-28T21:32:00.004-04:00

After my eye-opening grocery shopping trip in Kentucky I decided that something has to be done. Louisville desperately needs a place to find better quality foods at decent prices!!!

I just finished shopping at Trader Joe's here in NYC and I think I paid 1/10th of what I did in Kentucky for all kinds of food! Isn't New York legend for being more expensive???!!!!

After speaking to many of my KY peeps on facebook I figured there has to be some way to make their requests heard. I found a petition site online. Yeah!
I hope getting 10,000 signatures from people in Kentucky might be enough to get Trader Joe's to seriously listen. If we can get even more all the better. This might even get Kroger, Whole Foods and the other stores to lower their outrageous prices or seek out more organic solutions!!!

You can sign the petition at http://www.change.org/petitions/view/we_need_trader_joes_in_louisville_kentucky

CONSUMER POWER

2010-08-28T19:52:00.004-04:00

I'm so glad to see consumers raising their voices and beginning to be heard. Here is a link to an article about sugar versus high fructose corn syrup. http://tinyurl.com/23m3uec The big brands are starting to play around with their formulas and ingredients because they're recognizing there is a demand for better quality in regards to food.
Consumers still need to be more educated and specific. White sugar is still processed! Is it still better than HFCS? I'm sure the body can at least recognize it better.

I am also pleased to report that the stoppage I was experiencing from eating Denny's and Famous Dave's last Sunday is finally beginning to exit the building and my body's swelling is going down. I couldn't even work out this week I was so uncomfortable which is a first for me in a year!!!!!

Glad to be almost back!

THE GREAT EXPERIMENT

2010-08-25T23:46:00.004-04:00

As I have mentioned in the past if I ate something that was not organic I would have severe reactions to the food. They include toxin spots oozing with blood and pus and major headaches behind my eyes.

For months I have been bracing myself to eat at my grandmother's favorite place, Denny's. I don't have the heart to make an aging woman go through my organic experiment. So this past week as planned I went ahead and ordered the Moons over My Hammy (eggs with ham and cheese) and the cheese fries. Hey if I'm going to break organic I might as well go all the way. Much to my surprise the only thing I experienced was severe bloat (probably from all of the salt). No ketchup on the fries. No extra salt. Just the sandwich and the fries. In total I consumed 1400 calories in that meal. The sandwich tasted good, but the fries tasted fake and tasteless to me. What was sad is less than two hours later I was starving again as if I had never eaten anything. My stomach looked like I was in the early stages of pregnancy.

Then my grandmother wanted me to go to dinner with her as well. I wasn't so worried about dinner since I seemed to survive breakfast okay. We went to Famous Dave's and I ate the rib tip dinner as pictured here on the left. The entire platter was actually only 1073 calories. The sides all tasted fake to me, and the meat was just okay. Nothing amazing...until I drowned it in devil sauce (those calories are calculated as well). After I ate I felt drunk and off balance. I also felt like a slug. At least I felt full. In fact I woke up the next day to a major food hangover. Thankfully no headache though. The sad part is it's three days later and it still hasn't left my body. My body is swollen and I look like my stomach is in the final trimester of pregnancy. This is horrible. Two meals could physically do this to me? What was interesting is I had 2,473 calories in total for the day. That's a lot, but not when you compare it to the 4000+ calories I have been consuming each day over the last month (and still losing weight).

So I would like to discuss a few facts or shall I say observations on this journey so far:

-When I eat produce that is not organic I get SEVERE migraines and nausea.

-When I eat meat that is not organic I can not use the toilet for a few days. I feel sluggish and my stomach swells. I am usually still feeling hungry or dissatisfied.

-When I eat organic processed foods in quantities of 5000+ calories I FINALLY start to put on some weight and break out around my jaw area.

-When I eat unprocessed organic meats, dairy, fruits, and vegetables I can eat unlimited amounts of food and not gain weight and also be satisfied for hours. The side effects are great energy and satisfying sleep.

The photos featured here show the industrial food I had on the left at Famous Dave's. The food on the right is the organic food that I normally eat at Gusto Organics. It's more meat than the Famous Dave's. I guarantee Gusto's potatoes which are rich in dairy and other binders is heavier in calories than what I had at Dave's as well. The only thing I normally don't eat is the corn bread and the corn (unless they are organic chips). I am probably eating twice the calories on the right as I am on the left. Yet the meal on the right didn't bloat me or give me discomfort or indigestion. I had no problems using the toilet. I can say this for all of my meals at Gusto Organics.

I added these photos to show the people who think I am "dieting" the actual volumes and content of my foods. Please tell me what kind of diet allows you to eat steak and potatoes like this and lose weight?

I hopefully have put some minds to rest and can't wait to see what happens in September when I actually begin to try to lose weight......that is if I can get the Famous Dave's to pass out of me first. Yech!

LUCKY IN KENTUCKY

2010-08-25T21:42:00.006-04:00

Sorry I've been absent for a few days. I've just returned back from both a work and play trip in Kentucky. Sometimes it's nice for people to not know where you are or where you're going at all times.

I was really looking forward to this trip so that I could get a chance to experiment and research organic versus industrial a bit more away from New York and be closer to the source of food I was raised on.

As I arrived to my dad's house he asked me what I wanted to eat. He told me there was a lot available in the garden so he gave me a tour of what was growing out back. He wasn't kidding. Endless amounts of tomatoes, squashes of all kinds, zucchini, grapes, varieties of herbs, melons....in fact this photo is of my dad after just plucking a watermelon right from the garden. He's a bit shy here. It ended up being the sweetest, juiciest melon I've had in a looooong time.

It was so nice to have access to the freshest produce 24/7. Nothing beats waking up in the morning and gathering raspberries to go with my yogurt! I was in heaven.

Then I realized I still needed my dairy and eggs so we went off to the grocery store. There was VERY little that was organic at the markets and what was there was TWICE and THREE times the price! No wonder people complain about the cost of organic! In addition a lot of the organic was vegan or bland stuff that has no real appeal or taste. No wonder people associate vegetarianism with organic!!! That's just wrong!

So one thing was for sure. Price and availability is an enormous problem in Kentucky (the last place I ever thought it would be). It made me feel really fortunate to live in New York City. The only financial relief consumers can take some comfort in is from the food salvage stores. My best friend Chris shops a lot of her organic from there. So instead of her pasta costing $4.00 at whole foods, it's .60 cents for the same brand at the salvage store. They carry a huge variety of organic products like Annie's organic pasta or Late July's cheese crackers. Who knew!

As I reflect I think about the fact that we grew our food a long time ago to supplement the food we really couldn't afford to buy. Now growing our own food seems to be a luxury. If my parents weren't retired there would be no way they could maintain a garden. Time is now the new luxury that most of us do not have.

If a lot of people put their time together in a community garden maybe we all could afford this luxury. Just thinking out loud. I know it's being done in coops around the country. This just has to somehow go viral. This would bring back community and also give parents and their kids something to share.

This sunday is World Kitchen Garden Day. New Yorkers will come prepared to garden and bring their own bowls, utensils, and a few bucks. The people sponsoring it are trying to get a garden in front of City Hall in New York. Interesting. I would prefer Central Park.

Anyway. I felt lucky to be in Kentucky and was thankful my family shared their garden with me. I probably ate 20 lbs of tomatoes while I was there!!! Wish you were there!

HOME GROWN

2010-08-15T00:55:00.009-04:00

At the beginning of my experiment an old mate from grade school told me she had a friend she grew up with in Pittsburgh that had gone organic and lost 40 lbs in a matter of two months. I later found out it was a small exaggeration. I am so glad I waited to speak to her until this last week because we both have the same story to tell. Her journey didn't influence the outcome of what happened to me and I would probably have doubted her anyway. I NEVER would have thought I would lose weight by eating more food!!!

Her name is Heather Henderson Price. Heather is originally from Pittsburgh, but now lives with her husband and kids in Georgia. Heather was generous enough to allow me to listen to her life's story about her relationship with food and how it related to her.

She just as I had been raised mostly off of food grown in her garden. If "they needed carrots for dinner she walked in the back yard and picked them". As Heather got older she married and had three children. Each pregnancy she packed on the weight and found it impossible to get off. During one of her pregnancies she had an urge of to consume oreos and other processed foods which is what made the weight creep on so easily.

Eventually Heather went to extremes to lose the weight, but she couldn't shake it. It wasn't until she had tried every weight loss gimmick on the market (the shakes, etc) that Heather decided to visit a weight loss center for assistance. The center showed her how to eat again and emphasized whole, fresh foods. Processed foods were eliminated from her diet. Heather intuitively took it a step further by eating a lot of her foods organically because that's what she did when she was younger. She quickly sloughed off 30+ lbs within a couple of months from the diet change and still continues to maintain it over a year and a half later.

Weight wasn't the only major change that Heather noticed by going with whole, fresh foods. Heather was on migraine medication. She would get persistent migraines throughout the month. When she changed her diet her migraines disappeared. Occasionally she will get a migraine about once a month.

Heather's family began to also see other benefits from the diet change. At 8months of age one of Heather's kids was diagnosed Tuberous Sclerosis Complex which causes epileptic-like seizures. After years of dealing with different issues with the drugs, etc they took her daughter off of the medication. For the last six months Heather's daughter has not experienced an epileptic episode. Heather credits watching her daughter's diet and making sure she doesn't get any refined sugars or processed foods.

The part that blows me away is how Heather and I both react to industrial food now that we've made these changes. Four times through my journey I have had SIGNIFICANT reactions to my food where I get nausea, severe headaches, and a feeling similar to a hangover for two days if I eat something that is not organic. I have been able to go back to the sources of each incident and pick out which food was the problem and confirm that with the people that served me those foods! The funny thing Heather said when she goes to visit her family in Pittsburgh she has the same problem!!! She also feels "sluggish and fatigued".

After speaking to Heather I now wonder if people are more prone to chemical sensitivity in their foods if they had little to no exposure to chemicals in their food as a child? Changing our diets allowed us to increase the volume of food that we ate and resulted in weight loss we were both unable to achieve in prior attempts. Would someone raised off of pop tarts and McDonald's have the same benefits or weight changes that Heather and I had? I have to find someone willing to take the challenge!

It's also interesting to reflect on seeing the swelling and weight gain in my aunt who is vegetarian. She seems to eat a lot of tofu which is mostly genetically modified. If she went entirely GMO free would she lose the weight?

If anything it was certainly consoling to speak to someone on a similar journey and see that organic has had a positive outcome in our lives. We both feel more of a sense of control about how we look and feel.

Heather and I also agree that sourcing our food is going to be the next biggest challenge for both of us. She wishes she could have a garden like the one she grew up with, but her back yard in Georgia is all clay. We'll get there Heather. I promise!

DAYCATION

2010-08-11T09:29:00.003-04:00

Over the weekend I got a chance to go to Boston to see my Aunt whom I've only seen maybe a total of 5 times in my life. What was special about this trip was she was the first person to introduce me to the idea of vegetarianism. She's been vegetarian for over 30+ years and a darn good one at that!

One thing about her is despite her healthy consumption of vegetables she is still overweight and struggles with her health at times. She has also been in accidents that have caused major trauma to the head where her weight was affected just as I have. I will have to speak with my old classmate at the University of Kentucky to see if weight and brain damage tie in. I know that I have been told that my pituitary gland has been compromised.

Back to my daycation. When I arrived she took me to a vegetarian Indian restaurant south of Boston that she thought would be safe for my organic needs. We really enjoyed our tasty Palak Paneer and rice Dosa filled with potatoes. Not even an hour after eating I had the worst headache behind my eyes and fatigue. I tried to ignore it.

After spending many hours together it was time for dinner. She prepared THE BEST Quinoa salad I have ever had. It was soooo fluffy!!! I could have eaten the whole thing. I overate dinner hoping that it would help dilute what was in my system for lunch, but the headache only worsened! It was turning into a migraine followed by nausea. Eventually a couple of hours later I ended up vomiting. I sprayed some silver just to make sure I didn't get some weird food poisoning, but I don't think I would get a headache from food poisoning.

In the end I woke up with a sore stomach and didn't want to eat. I forced myself to eat just before boarding the bus back to NY. Part of the take home had some of the Indian as leftovers. I took it back with me and had it for dinner. The headache symptoms returned along with the nausea!!! It was definitely a reaction to something in the food.

Two days later all of the swelling in my hands and arms and especially my stomach shrank back down. My stomach calmed down. Everything is back to normal.

What's the moral of the story here? Even eating a healthy vegetarian lifestyle has its hazards. I reacted to what would be considered healthy food! This is insane!

In my next post I will talking about an interview that I did with a young lady who started organic almost a year before me. She was introduced to me by an old grade school buddy who found out about my organic journey and thought I should speak with her.

In the meantime I have to get my aunt's recipe to that quinoa!

All THAT AND A BAG OF CHIPS

2010-08-04T20:30:00.005-04:00

After listening to a lot of discussions and theories over my weight loss I decided to try a little experiment. Do calories really count?

For almost the last two weeks I have been eating like a complete pig!!!!
I'll have a huge 1100 calorie burrito bowl at Chipotle followed by a 250 calorie ice cream. Then even the last two nights I have forced myself into eating an entire BAG of UTZ blue corn tortilla chips with a whole container of hummus. That's at least another 2000 calories. People I'm eating over 4000 calories a day and not even exercising and still not climbing the scale.

No, I do not have a tapeworm, nor am I using stimulants. Mind you I'm also not able to get to the gym and exercise like I usually do either. My schedule is murder right now.

I don't know how much longer my stomach can take this stretching so I'm going to back off now, but I just thought you may find this interesting.

I'm also going to announce that as of September 1st I will be officially trying to lose weight. That's right. I have not tried to lose those 70 lbs. They just came off.
What's going to happen now that I'm going to put some effort into it?

I will be making small changes like not eating after 7pm, paying closer attention to my portions so that I'm eating 1 serving of mashed potatoes instead of 4. I'll either lose, gain, or stay the same.

Watch me put the effort in and stay the same!!!!

Anyway thanks as usual for reading!

MS

A NEW RECRUIT!

2010-08-04T00:02:00.007-04:00

My friend Stephanie was so excited to see some of the changes that I have undergone from eating entirely organic that she decided to go ahead an jump on board.....at least for this month. I believe she said she had a weight loss goal, but don't quote me on it. I think she already looks fabulous!

Anyway I thought one of the very interesting things that she posted on her facebook wall was that she is sleeping better! I have to say that in the beginning I noticed my body craved more sleep as well. Babies are constantly repairing at a rapid rate and need tons of sleep. Could organic be rejuvenating for Stephanie as well? Is her body trying to mend from all of the damage the chemicals induced on her body? Remember toxins are fat soluble and wear down the immune system and slow down the thyroid!

We'll have to keep you posted on her changes as well!

Welcome aboard Stephanie!

IT'S TOXIC

2010-07-29T18:47:00.004-04:00

Much to my dismay something I ate earlier in the week must not have been organic! The telltale sign is I have strategic, angry welts on my chest and face. I have taken a photo of one of them on my chest to show you what they look like.

Before I got these bumps I had that nausea in my stomach and headaches as if I had a hangover. Even though I did have alcohol earlier in the week I am not sensitive to it, but I bet you the vodka I drank was not organic. The mixer probably was, but I doubt the alcohol was. I'll find out more sunday.

The reason I'm sharing this with you is because I had at least a dozen of these when I first started organic only they got really bloody and full of pus. That is what a detox bump/symptom can also be like. They form where toxins are trying to get out of the body through the skin. Many doctors have patients on Niacin to help avoid this sort of situation.

See what you could have to look forward to?

EVENING DELIGHT

2010-07-27T16:14:00.007-04:00

I think Organic has been taken to a whole different level with some of my friends. I was invited to a dinner event where my friends Taylor and Ronnie prepared striped bass ceviche(cooked) with a spicy mango and cilantro chutney. What was so special about the dish is the fish was caught by Taylor on a mini escape from the city! Does it get any fresher than that? http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=139113836109984

The thing is there is no USDA certification for fish according to Gustorganics owner Alberto Gonzales. That may be so, but I can say there is definitely a difference between getting farm-raised versus wild caught fish. The fish are not raised in stifling proximity to each other or raised off of feed made from GMO corn. Who ever heard of feeding fish corn anyway?

Oh by the way the Ceviche stole the show and I was honored that the hostess Stephanie had gone so far out of her way to make sure that everything was organic.

Still trying to figure out how to score some of the leftovers. My schedule has been insane!

NEWS FROM THE WHITE HOUSE!

2010-07-24T15:44:00.005-04:00

The White House announced on May 11th that the threat to American society is not necessarily the war on terrorism, but the endocrine-disrupting chemicals in our foods!!!!!!!!!!

This is a MAJOR news break that shows that my journey may not be as ridiculous as many have commented. After the major results I was seeing in the first month I knew it couldn't be hype, but I just wasn't sure how much just the source of my food could be effecting me. I mean it does sound silly that I would be melting away 70 lbs of fat from eating steak and ice cream.

You MUST read this article: http://shine.yahoo.com/event/loveyourbody/why-you-cant-lose-those-last-10-pounds-1964849/

A big thanks to Donna for bringing this to my attention. There is a great amount of work to be done.

A WORK OF ART

2010-07-24T15:08:00.008-04:00

This past weekend my friends Ronnie and Taylor treated me to a home-cooked organic meal. They did their shopping at Whole Foods which included steak, stir fry veggies, sweet tea, and carrots with a very addictive dip. The meal was topped off with the most intensely flavorful parfait! The combination of the yogurt, chocolate, granola, and fruit were so delightful that I asked them if they could step out of the room for a minute for some privacy. It didn't help that the dinner came with napkins decorated with half-naked cowboys on them. The entire meal was just incredible.

It was interesting to listen to their journey about sourcing their foods and how expensive organic can actually get. I then explained to them that farmers have said that if the demand increases then prices will go down. Basic supply and demand. I had also told them about www.organicdirect.com. They tend to be much more reasonable than whole foods anyway. They also commented on how despite the volume of food they ate that they were not miserably full as one would be after a meal like that.

A couple of days later Ronnie and Taylor said they had planned to eat like that more often. I replied if this country could do that at least once a week imagine what could happen?

The moral of the story is there's a lot of joy in organic food. It makes people feel good. It tastes good. The only thing missing from our dinner was our friend Stephanie who was off somewhere saving some part of the world, but I have a feeling we'll be enjoying more organic dinners in the future!

TESTING. TESTING.

2010-07-17T17:03:00.004-04:00

So there seems to be a lot of doubt, cynicism, and sarcasm when I speak of organic.
Most people I poll say that they don't really believe that there is a difference.
Some say that it's just hype.
Some say it's not enough to really make a difference.

I would like for you to go out and buy one regular apple and one organic apple.
Slice both apples in half or to not be wasteful cut them into quarters and keep out a quarter of each apple on a plate.

I guarantee this will be a quick experiment because the organic apple will already begin to oxidize before you probably get a chance to put everything away.
See what happens to each apple in a day.

Then think about how difficult it might be for your own body to break down that regular apple versus the organic apple.

It might theoretically take even more calories to break down that regular apple than the organic one. That's something I will be personally looking into.

This will hopefully answer some people's question about how I know if I'm eating organic or industrial food. It's about as elementary as this apple.

Organic Muscle?

2010-07-15T01:08:00.003-04:00

So now it looks like even the fitness industry has seen the marketing potential of organic.
Several months ago I saw a product launch called Orgain. All of the sudden it's starting to pop up around new york city just like vitamin water had started.
This could both scary and exciting. It certainly tastes better than any muscle drink I've had in the past, but it did give my stomach a little tinge of discomfort.
Lately my stomach has been a pretty quick gauge at what is and isn't organic.
I'm certainly not implying anything here and I applaud the effort. If anything it's a step forward AND the nutrition supplement industry should have already been on this trend a very long time ago!!! It's also refreshing to see words that I can pronounce as well! Check out some of the conventional brands!!!

AMISH CHICKEN?

2010-07-12T02:06:00.010-04:00

A while back we explored Kosher meat. Many were under the idea that Kosher meat is the same as organic meat. We quickly found out they don't even compare.

This evening I was invited out to dinner and the main course was Amish Chicken. For once I did not make a scene given the circumstances. It's only logical that the very people who chose to opt out of zippers on their clothing would raise livestock without hormones or antibiotics right?

All I can say is by the end of the dinner I was getting a miniature migraine behind my left eye and my ankles were beginning to swell. Some of the other guests also commented on how big the chicken was which could also be an indicator of hormone use.

Luckily someone has already done that homework for me. Amy's table has looked into Amish chicken in the new york area via the NY Times. The verdict is the Amish label on the food is more about marketing hype. Amish Chicken may not even be raised by the Amish.

Judging by my body's response to the dinner (and no I did not even have a sip of alcohol) USDA might be a better way to go for now. Haven't had a headache from that yet!

I'm still glad I took a chance to see what would happen if I trusted a restaurant. I was among great company anyway.

Just to be fair I'll give them a ring in the morning to find out what the whole story is.

CALORIES MATTER?

2010-07-04T00:33:00.004-04:00

Last night I had about 8 oz of steak, 4 servings of the fattiest potatoes, and a tiramisu (pictured here). In total I'm guessing I consumed over 3000 calories. Earlier that day I had a chicken and sausage gumbo and a high protein shake called orgain which definitely hit over 1000 calories. For breakfast I had a raw salad that would probably equal at least 600 calories. All in all there were at least 4000 calories consumed in the day. It takes 3500 calories to equal a pound.

I have not been able to eat this volume of food since high school! Off of eating these foods I am losing weight. If you had told me this in the past that calories may not matter I would have told you that's crazy!

Things to consider: all of the food that I am consuming is organic. No I do not have a tapeworm. Yes I am exercising less than I was when I first started....maybe 3-4 times a week instead of 7 days a week.

The reason I am bringing this up is because I was blasted for not making sense on this journey. I have both doubters and cheerleaders. I didn't say I knew what I was doing. I just thought it made sense that since my body had difficulty losing weight for many reasons that I would go back to the way I used to eat when I was thin. It was a time where we grew and ate our own food or bought from a store that locally sourced our food.

Don't get me wrong. Even my father thinks organic and my weight is a bunch of crap, but I can't wait to see him in August and have him tell me he still thinks that way.
Even my skin looks like it used to.....clear and soft.

So now I want to find a documentary/filmographer that will test twins eating the same foods for three to six months. The only difference is the one twin will be eating industrial foods and the other one will be eating organic! That's a true test!

In the meantime I'm going to dig up more fun facts like how low levels of toxins absorbed by the body can lower the thyroid function thus causing your metabolism to slow down.
I don't know of any toxins in any foods do you? I just found out from a doctor on thursday that margerine is one molecule away from plastic! Hmmmmm.

ORGANIC PERCEPTION

2010-06-30T11:06:00.004-04:00

This morning I was greeted with a post on my FB from my friend Julie about a study done at the University or Michigan about the perception of organic. You can read about the study and my comments to the press release and tell me what you think.

As a side note I would like to know if these students were also asked who the third president of the United States was? How can you not know what a calorie is and what it means?! To me I visually see Jay Leno doing one of his old night show segments on 'How smart is America.'

I'm not trying to be cynical here, but it just goes to show that we as a country need so much education when it comes to our food. We have been so brainwashed by our advertising and the multibillion dollar diet industry. It's time to get back to food basics and enhance our quality of life!

WHAT'S ORGANIC ABOUT ORGANIC?

2010-06-29T23:28:00.003-04:00

I made it out last monday for the opening screening of the documentary What's Organic About Organic. I felt it was a great movie for people that have no concept of what goes on at an organic farm. It also sampled what happens at an industrial farm. What I loved most was a scene where one of the farmers goes around to show weeds that most farmers kill that can actually benefit the cows by cleaning their blood, etc. What I also loved is that it wasn't sensationalizing the problems with industrial food only celebrating the farmers out there showing organic can be done.

There was a roundtable/forum after the screening that was actually even more interesting to me where the organic trailblazers discussed the fact that Wine is the only product on the market that does not list its ingredients on the label. Wine can have over 40 ingredients alone which include dyes and arsenic (which is used as a fungicide). Gives a whole new meaning to a hangover.

In addition I did not know that farming was one of the deadliest occupations in the U.S. I would have personally thought coal mining was. That being said one of the panel members spoke of fair trade labor. Fair trade is obviously something that isn't just a third world country problem. It's a problem in our own back yard.

One of the problems I have personally found is sourcing of Organic Food. The panel discussed the fact that if we ask our local grocers to dedicate a section to organic food we might be able to make it more available. In addition I also feel that if we can all find a farmer to connect to our grocers then we can all make a difference!

Some of the sites I heard about at the screening were: www.eco-labels.org, www.attra.org, and www.howtogoorganic.com.
Looks like there's a lot of info to dig into here!!!!!

By the way the weight is continuing to melt away. I haven't weighed myself, but my smaller clothes are starting to swim on me.

Be back with more organic info!

WHAT'S UP WITH BACON?!?!

2010-06-17T16:20:00.005-04:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a sucker for charity. Add Kevin Bacon to the equation and who knows what 6 degrees can do to change the world?!?!

First of all Kevin didn't I teach you anything on that cover shoot that we worked together on a few years back? As if losing your money to Madoff wasn't a big enough lesson (for which I am so sorry to hear about) now you are promoting a company that pushes products on consumers that is only making this country ill!

I know it's a tough position to be put in. Kevin's not asking us to drink Pepsi. He's actually promoting an amazing idea called Good Card. You can read about it more at sixdegrees.org

Just try not to guzzle a pepsi or eat your KFC wings while you're trying to figure out which of the 1,000,000+ charities you want to help support.

AWARDS DINNER

2010-06-09T16:25:00.010-04:00

Last night was the 8th Annual James Parks Morton Interfaith Awards Dinner Honoring Philip Glass for his contribution of music to peace and interfaith understanding.

The dinner was a lavish spread of Grilled Filet Mignon, Miso Glazed Cod, or Polenta with fresh mixed grilled Vegetables. Some of the most beautiful food I have seen in a long while. My neighbors were kind enough to allow me to photograph one of the dessert plates being passed around. There were so many others, but this was an example of just one tempting plate!

The staff was a little concerned that I wasn't eating and I assured them that all they needed to do was pretend I was anorexic and everything would be okay. They weren't content with that answer so the lovely head of the waitstaff approached me and offered to put together a wonderful salad for me. After the conversation I had with him it finally became very clear to me that organic to many people....even those who specialize in food think that organic means eating vegetables or being vegetarian. Organic only means eating from food sources that are free of chemicals, hormones, and GMO's.

What was really alarming to me is that no one seems to know where our food comes from. The CEO of Fair Oaks Farms is so right! We are so removed from our food and the people that bring it to us. We have learned to trust too much. The cost of that trust seems to be our health.

What was great about the evening is I was surrounded by over 50 different religious leaders who were all there to make a difference. They were really compelled to help support my organic initiative because it coincided with their wanting to demonstrate how making small changes in our lives can potentially have a great impact.

Who knows... world peace through food? Ghandi started that trend a long time ago!

SUPERSIZE ME

2010-06-07T23:49:00.004-04:00

So I FINALLY got a chance to see Supersize Me, the movie on Hulu the other day.
It's the first time I didn't fall asleep through it like I had a couple of times in the past. Watching another person's inevitable indigestion never really appealed to me.

BUT what I'm so glad I got to see was Appleton Central High School's changes in the diet with their students. These kids tend to have aggression and ADD among many issues, but the school seemed to find less resistance and more improvement in scores when they switched out chicken nuggets and processed foods for the nutritious meals.

The most exciting thing I could have heard is that the food that comes from a contractor called NATURAL OVENS BAKERY is no more expensive than the US Government's food they supplied to the schools.

This means that cost is not an issue when it comes to eating well!!!!!

So my next mission is to speak with the company and figure out how we can better source our foods. I also think the owner of Gustorganics is writing something on this subject as well.

Stay tuned! I think there are more exciting things ahead!!!!!

WHERE DOES ORGANIC START?

2010-06-01T17:23:00.002-04:00

According to writer Matthew Dillon he believes organic begins with the integrity of the seed. If you've seen the movie the FUTURE OF FOOD Monsanto makes the future of our food seem grim. The company has powerful lobbyists that want to monopolize the food industry.

You can catch the full article here.

HANGOVER CLASSIC

2010-05-24T23:31:00.004-04:00

So for the last few days I was working on a client's Bar mitzvah. No expense was spared when it came to the great event. Despite how rude I may have appeared I still felt it was essential to find out if any of the food was organic. At this juncture I felt it was better to starve than to put crap back into my body.

On the first night the restaurant I went to with my client was offended that I would think that their food was not of the highest quality. On the second day I stepped out of the party to buy a stash of organic cheese and nuts that I scoped while riding in the car on my way to the Bar Mitzvah. As I reentered the party the server I initially asked if their food was organic said that the food they had for the kids was organic, but the adults was not. I thought that was a really odd statement. I decided instead of being all out rude about the situation that I would trust the server and risk eating the food. They had quail eggs with a truffle center, lamb skewers, all kinds of chocolates, endless alcohol......all so very tempting.

Before the end of the night I had a throbbing headache (only consumed water). When I got back to my client's apartment I pulled out the cheese and nuts hoping to settle my stomach.

The next morning when I awoke I felt as if a truck had run over me. I have never had a hangover, but if I did this would probably be the closest feeling to it!!!
That horrible feeling lasted two days!!!!

Moral of the story is I highly doubt that the food I ate at the event was organic. Someone had a field day with me. I NEVER thought I would feel so bad after eating food. I have an allergy to wheat so I know what a food allergy is like, but this one takes the cake!

The question is what was in that food?!!!!

ALL DONE

2010-05-21T03:36:00.004-04:00

I'm officially off the cleanse and back in action. The Clean cleanse was not for me. Not only did I not lose weight, but I gained a couple of pounds. I don't know if it was because I couldn't eliminate my waste properly or if it was because it slowed down my metabolism in the end.
I do know that I'm just glad it's over and I can now get on with my full organic eating.
Even though my one meal a day was organic I just felt like my body wasn't getting nourished properly. My nails are the worst! They are splitting left and right! I have a lot of lashes missing as well.
The thing I missed most about my cleanse were my supplements. No matter how clean and pure we eat our soil is quickly becoming depleted of minerals which are vital to the body. Without minerals (which our bodies do not produce) our cells can't function properly. Our bodies are only going to grow more out of balance.
By the way my colleague on the cleanse did not fare well either. We both had elimination problems. We also drank a couple of gallons of water a day each. Guess we'll both mark this one off of the list!
I was never a big fan of cleanses anyway and after my organic detox experience in the beginning I already fell like I've been on a cleanse anyway!

STILL CLEAN

2010-05-03T10:29:00.003-04:00

So I'm still plugging away on this cleanse. The first week was basically a breeze however not to get into too much detail I usually use the toilet more frequently and this cleanse seems to be doing the opposite in so many ways. Never thought I would have to break down and buy castor oil yech!

I'm also writing to say that I will be taking a break from posting on this blog (NOT FROM EATING ORGANIC). One of my companies, MS APOTHECARY will be debuting at The Makeup Show NYC. We want everything to be perfect and we're running out of time!

I'll be posting again as of May 18th with more interesting info.

In the meantime thanks for being such loyal followers.

xoxo Mary Schook

FO FARMS

2010-05-01T15:54:00.005-04:00

It's all about FO Farms (not Faux Farms)! There's nothing fake about this farm.

Fair Oaks farms is a dairy farm that I discovered driving between Chicago and Louisville in February. The whole point of that drive was to see how many farms I could pass that carried organic. Sadly they were the only one.

At first I was wary because for miles they were advertising the farm with 3-d cow signs. It seemed a bit six flags over dairy to me. I drove up to the store located next to the farm and walked in to find an array of different cheeses. None of the signs said organic or even hormone free. When I asked the staff if the cows were hormone free they said yes. "And what about their feed?" I said. They said yes. Then I replied back to the cheese lady that there's no signs saying their cheese was free of antibiotics and hormones. She responded back saying that it was on their website.
After a quick stare down I decided to trust the cheese lady. She let me try some samples and I have to say they were divine.

I left the store with my cheddar curd, sweet swiss cheese, and colby in tow to bring back to my family in Kentucky. It was absolutely divine! The family loved it too. When I got back to NY I still couldn't find anything on the site that stated that the cows were hormone or Antibiotic free!

I decided that further investigation was required. Eventually I was put through to the CEO, Gary Corbett. He was quite lovely and forthright to speak to and full of great information. My first question to him was if you don't use antibiotics, feed your cows organic feed, and don't use hormones then why isn't your dairy organic? Gary said that the cows have to graze a certain amount of time in the pasture. For 30,000 cows to efficiently produce a sizeable amount of milk that's a difficult task.

He also said that when the cows are pregnant they are put through a dry period (that means the cows are not milked). Not all farmers do this by the way. When pregnant cows are milked they secrete hormones that we ingest and cause us problems. Milk and dairy with these hormones are suspected to be one factor in adult acne.

Gary went on to give me many other facts like all of the manure that the cows produce is recycled into gas which powers the entire plant and will soon fuel all of the dairy's delivery trucks. In addition they are working on getting wind towers to put on the land so they are also generating electricity to put back into the grid. They are basically creating a negative carbon footprint AND producing award winning cheese and other dairy to boot!

The price of the cheese was less than what I would pay at the grocery store for any 'ol cheese and tasted better than most of the cheeses I have ever tasted.

Fair Oaks Farms is open to the public to tour. You can even watch the cows give birth in a special birthing room. Gary brought up a good point. At one time we all somehow directly knew a farmer. Now we are detached from what happens to our food. We're about 8 generations away from knowing a farmer.

So in this case I am not particular about organic. Organic is just a label. Fair Oaks has a fine, quality product with full integrity and I'm proud to be one of the 400,000 people a year to come and visit.

Gotta get me some more of that cheese!!!

DETERMINING ORGANIC?

2010-04-30T22:08:00.005-04:00

One of my writer friends just emailed me to ask me how do I determine if a product is GMO? Well I haven't done tons of research yet, but generally the big products: corn, soybeans, canola, etc are mostly GMO. Here is what the USDA reported. Almost 100% of soybeans are GMO! Soymilk and Tofu lovers beware!

So simply put if you are feeding yourself and/or your children processed foods they're likely to have hidden high fructose corn syrup and be GM (Genetically Modified). I don't think our bodies can process this!

In addition there's a simpler test to know if your farmer/grocer is being honest about their produce. How long does it last? Organic tends to go bad faster. At Gustorganics restaurant you can even see the dessert tray of fruits go brown right in front of you eyes while you sit there! Doesn't affect the taste at all.

I had a really cute experience the other day. One of my clients told me that she had to buy organic lemons because the store was sold out of regular lemons. She said she never knew lemons could have such a full taste or could be so juicy. Then she commented on how they didn't last very long. After such a fulfilling experience in taste with the lemons and seeing my weight fall of she never wants to go back to industrial fruit!

So the moral of the story is stay away from processed foods. We hear it all of the time, but it's literally killing us!!! Do your homework. Find out what you can buy locally. The more we support independent farmers the more food options there will be because right now outside of NYC organic is almost impossible!

AND THE RESULTS ARE IN!

2010-04-29T12:17:00.003-04:00

I had a hunch my weight problem was from industrial foods. Since I have lost almost three sizes and was about to start the cleanse I felt it was time to finally weigh myself. In fact my colleague insisted on it so she could record the effects I was having from the cleanse.

I am happy to report I have gone from 282+ lbs in january to 246 lbs as of a couple of days ago. How wonderful is that? In fact if you don't believe it my gym has my stats on file after they tried wrestling me in for personal training sessions. I'm slowly losing substantial weight not by dieting, but by changing the source of my food.

It has been a difficult journey. It has definitely been anti-social, but now I'm beginning to see changes in how the people around me look at food. My changes are fueling their desire to change. It's not depriving myself of anything, but fortifying my body with delicious food.

BUT given I was sick last year I will see if this loss continues to happen. So far the cleanse has made me a bit hungry which I'm sure is lowering my metabolism as we speak!

Keep you posted on the progress!!!!!

KEEP IT CLEAN

2010-04-27T14:37:00.004-04:00

As promised I am now into day two of CLEAN, the 21 day detox program that is hitting Hollywood like wildfire. I am usually the LAST one to hit a trend when there is one. Still don't use an IPod and I barely made it on to MySpace which I've only used less than a handful of times.

My colleague is big into cleanses. I however am not for several reasons. One is that it takes me months to revive someone's skin after they have done so. The skin is our largest organ and it can sometimes give us glimpse into what is going on inside the body. That makes me think that the vitamins and minerals that we deprive our cells from over an extended period of time can cause adverse effects when it comes to aging after what I have already observed from most cleanses.

BUT I do think that we are eating waaaay too much crap as a society and food choices tend to have a certain domino effect that can spiral out of control. A lot of people out there need a jump start. I like that Gwyneth Paltrow wrote so openly about her experience for her online mag called GOOP. You can see her post about the cleanse here. It's good when a celebrity takes the position of being a positive role model for whatever reason it is that they do.

If you don't have time right now to go to her excerpt I'm going to give you CLEAN in a nutshell. 21 days. Shake in the morning and evening with supplements. One meal in the middle of the day with foods like wild salmon and lots of greens. Your one meal has to be clean as well. The first thing you do in the morning is take a probiotic (which I like) and then your supplements at both shake times. I know I have a problem with one supplement because it contains oil of oregano which I am allergic to, but I'll do it anyway until I think it's causing a problem. Oregano is fantastic at killing candida which is one of the things that causes yeast infections in women.

If you want to lose weight you mix your shake with water. In this case I would like to get the most out of my money and take advantage of that part of the cleanse. IF you do it that way it will taste like you've been soaking your cereal in water overnight. Unless you are hard core I recommend mixing the shake with almond milk and blueberries for taste!!!!!

So far my side effects have been great amounts of fatigue. I wish I had started this on the weekend. I'm going to really miss my supplements that I take for energy as well. When I went to switch over to organic I had a much heavier detoxification effect. My skin was blistering. I had constant chills and headaches and felt like I was about to come down with the flu. Up until my meal right now I have just been hungry and tired.

My colleague who has been a raw vegan, cleanses constantly, and frequents her colonic therapist has had headaches and lots of fatigue. It sounds like this cleanse is hitting her much harder. Knowing she is getting a response tells me that this could be an effective cleanse. Time will only tell

LOOKING BACK

2010-04-25T13:40:00.005-04:00

This week a big change is going to happen. Being that my business is about testing products both myself and one of the girls that works with me have decided to test out a very popular cleansing program called CLEAN. At first I thought it was a fad that some of my celebs were doing, but when I spoke to one of the partners that I happened to be friends with, he told me that the cleanse was manufactured by a company I know with a superb reputation.

Given that my business is about anti-aging I wanted to see what would happen to my skin on this cleanse as well as the structure of my face. The great thing is if something goes wrong I have all of the tools to repair it.

This is why I'm taking this time right now to post my latest before (left) and after (right) images from when I first started organic because up until this moment the whole experiment was solely about changing the source of my food. The after photo is even me with only 3 hours of sleep, getting over an allergy attack and infection, and being under severe stress. My eyes are so much wider. What's really interesting is you couldn't see my earring in the before photo because of how wide my face was versus the after. I think my neck even looks like it's almost half the size!

So the moral of the story here is organic is making some physical changes with me. The cleanse that I plan going on I will explain in the next post. It lasts 21 days.
In the beginning my body already went through a major cleansing process going through organic so it will be interesting to see what happens on a planned cleanse!

GIVE ME TRANSPARENCY!

2010-04-23T23:20:00.007-04:00

GMO. Short for Genetically Modified Organism. GMO according to the industrial world is also known as farming productivity. I am never one to stand in the way of science, but the idea of altering the course of nature for the rest of time just does not sit well with me. Once you go down this road one can never come back.

It is not science and changing nature that scares me. It's using bacteria or a virus to change that plant's DNA. That virus or bacteria is now part of the plant. It is not friendly bacteria either. It is meant to invade. Feeding our bodies with these mutated plants just doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

There are consequences to our industrial farming practices. People out there are getting sicker than ever! We have more cancers than ever. Could it be that we are getting this cancer because we are not getting good foods to fight off free radicals?
We are also not getting enough minerals because the minerals are being depleted from our soil. Did you know that our bodies don't even produce minerals naturally? Did you know that without minerals our cells can't function properly?

My friends the reason I am writing this post is for one reason. It has been brought to my attention that the current administration like it's past one is allowing our food companies to get away with hiding what happens to our food. The europeans won't let them get away with that, but we don't make companies accountable as consumers in any way in this country!

It's not about making companies stop what they are doing. Everyone should be free to do what they want to do. That's the problem in the first place. Everyone is trying to control everyone. It's about allowing people to do what they want and make the choices that they want.

I want to know where my food is coming from and what they are doing!
If that is important to you as well I encourage you to read this article and sign the petition. Please pass this along to others you think might care.

We still might have a chance!

A NEW EXPERIENCE

2010-04-19T23:06:00.007-04:00

Tonight was a late night with clients for me. It's around 11pm and my last client just left, but not before she ordered us in some grilled chicken, grilled vegetables, and brown rice from Gustorganics. She's not one to really go crazy for vegetables, but since she was with me she thought she'd be open about it.
After we finished our meals in the salon she said that she was very impressed and couldn't wait to try other things! Then she went on to ask what was on the vegetables to make them taste so good? I asked her what she meant by that? She said that the vegetables had so much flavor! I laughed and told her 'that flavor' is what a vegetable is supposed to taste like. I explained to her this was what I felt I was missing in my food from the time I came to New York: taste!!!! She's lived here her whole life so she really didn't have the perspective I have of eating food grown right in our own gardens!
Just goes to show positive lifestyle choices can bring about positive change!

IT'S TEA TIME

2010-04-18T20:08:00.004-04:00

There's a new coffee/tea shop that kicks another chain's ass in so many ways. First of all can I say I am so glad that large means large?

The place is called Argo Tea. They really bring in the art of tea. The shop that is next to my office in the flatiron district reminds me a bit of a tokyo tea bar with their bubble and signature teas. Just the idea of a strawberry green tea alone makes my mouth water! The coffee is not only organic, but certified fair trade. You can also get your milk organic as a "topper".

I also love that they are in the spirit of giving back to the artist community. 10% of all of their proceeds at this cafe goes to GenArt. I almost feel like a coffee shop should always be synonymous to the artist anyway, not Oprah's book pick of the month!

I've always told my overseas friends that the art of tea and tea time is what is missing from this country. There could be a lot of healing through tea.

Back to the health and nutrition Argo states: "We've created our own unique blends of Signature Drinks that are all naturally fresh, healthy, and distinctive. Always made from real ingredients that are free of any artificial flavorings, colors, or additives."

Amen!

A LITTLE PERSPECTIVE

2010-04-17T01:12:00.004-04:00

I was eating once again at Gustorganics the other day in NYC and found that they were promoting a new film called FRESH.

I feel that the more we know about our food and its sources the better decisions we can make. I personally have not seen it yet and the screenings are not available in my area at this minute, but they do give the option to buy your own DVD.

I wonder how/ if this could be any different or better than the FUTURE OF FOOD was or FOOD, INC? I guess I'll have to let you know. They say that the movie is about people trying to rethink the food system. Our current industrial model has "consequences" which include "environmental pollution, depletion of natural resources, food contamination, and obesity."

One thing that I do know if that there is no restaurant I feel better than eating at than Gustorganics AND I know he has integrity. How I feel at the end of that meal is becoming the most important thing to me! Oh and p.s. when can you ever eat a huge bowl of pesto pasta with 3 heapings of parmesan cheese and still lose weight?!

IT'S ABOUT DEMOCRACY

2010-04-12T22:24:00.007-04:00

We were founded upon choices and truths in this country. I've already seen how much making choices from better sourced foods has directly made an impact on my health. The results so far are clearer skin and and a continuous decrease in my size. While the results have slowed down a bit (probably from the volumes of food I can eat from time to time), my body seems to continue to undergo changes.

I like knowing I live in a country with a president that told us WE can make changes. It took a close friend of mine from another country to send this petition to me and make me aware that transparent farming and food practices could be on the horizon here in America.

You can have your crap out there, but I want to be able to nourish my body with better foods that aren't the result of a lab experiment that could go very wrong in the future. I know I want food that tastes like food and won't leave me sick for hours while my body tries to digest it! I want to pick up a piece of fruit or a vegetable and bite into it and taste the full flavor nature has to offer. I know I have personally suffered long enough.

Please sign and pass this petition along to your friends. Let's really make a difference!

CULTURE SHOCK!

2010-04-10T03:25:00.013-04:00

The other day I had to go to the east side of Harlem for a doctor visit and decided it would be a great idea to visit the Pathmark grocery store that sits on 125th and Lexington. It's a pretty sizable grocery store that takes up a good 1/2 portion of the block.

I was a bit hungry and knew it could wait, but I wanted to see how much organic food I could find in the store since I was already there. I wasn't going to let the crack heads hanging out front deter me.

Walking through the isles alone was enough to give me a coronary!! In all of my life I have never seen thousands of square footage (in the form of an oral death trap) posing as a grocery store. In this photo half of the isle alone is ORANGE!!!! Cheese curls, cheese puffs, party mix with orange snack mix......unbelievable! That wasn't even the snack isle!!!

Then there was the enormous kiosk from Nabisco that held Oreos on one side and canned cheese spread on the other side. The section of chicken nuggets.....HOW MANY TYPES OF CHICKEN NUGGETS ARE THERE? The section was the equivalent size of a normal dairy section at some of the bodegas in the city!

Every which way I turned it just kept getting better. There were huge meat sections just dedicated to sausage. Then in the snack section/isle featured endless corn syrup-based sodas while opposing every brand of chip imaginable.

The produce department was pathetic. Organic or not it didn't even appeal to me. It made me imagine flies swarming over the produce like the way that an illustrator would draw for the sunday comics feature. Earthbound organic spinach seemed to be the only organic item in the entire store.

I found myself having to pick my jaw up off of the floor after my visit. What are we doing America?! No wonder we're so sick! Does Pathmark provide this type of food because that is what is affordable? Is this food a lifestyle? Do people want to see more real food available? How did it ever come to this?!?!?

FAUX FOOD LABELS

2010-04-05T17:32:00.006-04:00

Happy Easter Everyone!

Given that a lot of businesses were closed for Easter it made me exercise moving out of my comfort zone for once to explore other options.

On my random walk around the city I spotted the opening of a new cafe called Fresh & Co.
I wanted to witness how "fresh" they were. At first they looked like any other corner deli/restaurant, but amidst the sodas and the chips they had prepackaged organic pasta dishes and fresh juices.

What really put me off was the fact that they designed their juice label to look like the USDA symbol from a distance. This is conditioning the consumer to feel a certain way about a product. This is really not cool. My patience is running thin with this kind of subliminal marketing. I'm hoping that someone brings it to the USDA's attention.

Personally I was so put off by the design that I walked out of the store. A design that was problem made to make the consumer trust their products was exactly what put me off of their products. What's worse is I have no idea if their produce is GMO or not.

How do we trust these companies?

Gonna have to really figure this one out. I'm wondering who to speak to about stricter labeling guidelines?

RESPONSIBLE CONSUMERS

2010-04-01T14:25:00.007-04:00

I can't believe how much time has passed and how much I have already learned. It is so encouraging to see how my own changes in my life have started to impact others. I even saw one of my friends secretly start to change some of their products to organic (even though he was laughing at me in the beginning)! My brother is making his own granola. Friends are going to organic restaurants. There are exciting changes being made.

In the beginning of my journey I spoke of how Fresh Direct had included Kashi in their organic section. I also spoke about how they would not respond to how upset I was that they put items that were not organic in their organic section of their website. It's a long story, but if you go back to the beginning of the blog you can read more about it.

Right after I got the Kashi in January I found a group/note on Facebook called the Kashi Misconceptions. I posted my grievances. I was upset how we as consumers are being misled in so many ways.

This past week a woman named Lori Geiger (her photo is above) posted a little more helpful information. I asked Lori if I could post her photo and response to the thread because I admired that she exercised her right as a responsible consumer.

I really feel like we as consumers need to stop trusting everything that is handed to us. We need to really connect to the things that we put on and in our bodies.

This is what Lori posted about Kashi:

"My local food co-op store stopped carrying Kashi. :~( When asked why, they said Kashi uses genetically modified grains. Never one to believe things without confirmation, I called Kashi. They stated that they never intentionally purchase GM grains, however there is no certainty that the grains have not been contaminated at the farm level. They carry only 4 items marked organic, all cereals. Sad day in Kashi land! :o(
I do not believe this rests on the company's shoulders. If there were more oversight of the GMO or didn't use them at all on the farm, we wouldn't have this problem!"

What I love most about Lori is that she is open and not angry. There is a lot of love in what she says and no fear. She didn't trust what one person said. She went straight to the source.

Yeah Lori!

SO GMO?

2010-03-30T01:31:00.004-04:00

Ah ha! Someone just sent me a link to some studies about GM (genetically modified) foods. As I said before I am less worried about pesticides than I am GMO's. I don't like how it's modified especially if you're using a virus to invade the cell of the plant to change its DNA!

I have not had a chance to read this yet, but I thought I would go ahead and pass this along anyway. It's called Scientific evidence documenting the Negative impacts of Genetically Modified (GM) Foods on Human and Animal Health and Environment.

Let me know what you think!

CHEMICAL ALERT

2010-03-27T23:33:00.004-04:00

So after a bit of light searching it looks as though I was correct. From the sounds of it the body does have a hard time processing some chemicals. Those chemicals do get stored in our fat. Toxins are fat soluble. If it comes from food it can tend to gather around the waistline because it is the body's way of protecting the major organs from the amount of acid the body builds up.

You can read up on this fascinating information at this link: http://common-patient-ailments.suite101.com/article.cfm/the_liver_an_overview

That does not mean that I agree with all of the cleanses that are going on out there. A cleanse could be just as simple as eliminating all of the garbage in your diet! Keeping away from sugar, meat, simple carbohydrates......just eating clean with fish, fruit, veggies, etc for a week could do wonders without putting strain on your system.

Just some food for thought!

JAMIE'S FOOD REVOLUTION STARTS TONIGHT!

2010-03-26T16:10:00.002-04:00

I'm very excited that tonight on ABC Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution will be airing.

Follow this link to get more information!!! http://tinyurl.com/yj4pwgk

LET'S GET NAKED!

2010-03-25T02:40:00.006-04:00

I was in the middle of Harlem about to pass out from being tied up in an appointment for 5 hours with no food or water so I ducked into a bodega to try to see if there was anything that I could eat or drink that could be organic.

I ran across NAKED's new tropical smoothie with coconut juice. I knew they were known for not having anything artificial in them, but that wasn't good enough for me. What grabbed my attention was the fact that the label said that there were no GMO's in the bottle. That means none of the produce was genetically modified. Back to the Coconut....it is also a really good electrolyte which balances the body. The coconut also cuts the calories of the smoothies by 35%.

My real issue this entire time has been genetically modified foods. Something tells me our bodies may not be able to process our GMO foods. Sometimes the body has a very difficult time getting rid of chemicals, etc. Eventually the body stores those chemicals in our fat cells.

The funny thing is many doctors know that toxins are fat soluble. Is it possible that chemicals can make us fat? Hmmmmmmm? I'm going to have to look into this further.

In the meantime I am very happy to see Naked is not messing with their fruit. Worst case scenario I think I would take pesticides over GMO's!

IT'S A WRAP

2010-03-24T01:13:00.003-04:00

Tonight I was pretty bummed. I grew to have more pain in my stomach from eating the vegan "chicken" quesadillas at Terri. As of right now their wraps are made of wheat. I have been tested to be Wheat Gluten intolerant. I was hoping that maybe my wheat issue was because of how wheat is usually grown and processed. I find it very interesting that I didn't have any wheat issues until a few years ago.

The stomach pain wasn't immediate at first. Typically when I have wheat in a muffin, etc I need to go take a serious nap!!! Wheat is like an instant tranquilizer for me. Last year it began to cause intestinal problems that caused me to see the doctor that eventually screwed up my stomach.

When I began to eat the wheat wraps at Terri I would only swell a little bit. It was definitely tolerable. Now I am going through some pretty heavy discomfort. Oh well. At least I was open and tried!!!!

Guess I'll have to keep on them about Gluten Free Wraps! I am sooooo addicted to those quesadillas!!!!!

EUROPEAN FANFARE

2010-03-22T16:54:00.008-04:00

So ever since I posted something about how I can tell that the food is organic or fresh I have heard whispers about my confidence in this matter. Many don't understand how I could really tell if my food is organic or not.

I think it's very simple to tell if your food is fresh. You can see it deteriorate right in front of you unless it is naturally preserved with spices the way my Indian or Asian friends do. If you can't see your food turning right in front of you then you might have to reconsider the source. The taste is also a HUGE indicator for me. A spear of steamed broccoli with a light oil can be so fulfilling if it's organic...such intense flavor.

I remember when people used to talk about how europeans bought their food fresh every day from the butchers and bakers. Somehow our lives became busy here in the USA and required us to make food last a bit longer in order to save time. That's still no excuse. We do have the luxury of freezing our meals in this day and age!!!!

A LITTLE TLC

2010-03-20T15:26:00.004-04:00

Ahhhh the weather in New York City is beginning to warm. Soon enough the aroma of garbage will be wafting through the streets. Just joking.

Spring in New York tends to remind me of one of my fave places I used to go to with friends: Pinkberry. It's time to find an organic alternative. Luckily only blocks away from my office there is a cafe that carries an organic soft serve ice cream called TLC short for The Lite Choice. I wasn't crazy about it at first, but now since I've had it a couple of times it has definitely grown on me. The other thing it is lacking is fresh fruit like pinkberry, but at least it's a nice frozen alternative.

What I like most is it goes to show we don't have to have corn syrup or chemicals in our products! Organic or not those things should be considered illegal don't you think?!!!

FOOD FARSE

2010-03-20T15:15:00.001-04:00

So one of my friends just brought a blog posting to my attention. It's about the fact that the USDA standards for organic have been crap. Some industrial food has passed as organic.

This is a very common thing that happens in the cosmetic industry as well. A company can try to get away with misinformation and mislabeling to the detriment of the consumer because the repercussions are not in place.

Fortunately for me I am buying from restaurants that are having to worry about this instead of me. Secondly there are some products that I believe in that are not organic. They just taste different to me. They don't agree with me. Through this journey others have brought to my attention that they feel the same way.

The journey for me this year is to do the best I can with the information that I have, to figure out choices that are both available and unavailable, and to make sure there are choices in a country that was founded on choices.

I want a choice. Don't you?

TERRI TAKE 2

2010-03-18T19:01:00.003-04:00

Ok. I think I could start to get addicted to Organic Vegan. There is something soooo addictive about Dhal cheese!!!!! The cheddar might be even better than the real thing!

Two nights ago I walked into Terri NYC to try something new other than the "chicken" quesadillas that I'm addicted to!!!! Right away there was a customer who suggested the "meatball" sub. I asked him if he was vegan and he said no. He said that he really wanted to start watching his health and thought he would give vegan a try. For some people I would think that is quite a diet change so I commended him for his efforts.

The customer was right. The meatball sub was divine. I asked him what his second choice was and he said the Thanksgiving Dinner which consists of Tofurky, Cranberry sauce, vegenaise, and crushed walnuts. I decided I would try that one the next day. Thanksgiving dinner was different, but good too. I topped it all off with a butterfinger shake which was recommended by one of the employees there. That too was really good!

Never did I ever think I would get cravings for Vegan food, but I guess the lesson to be learned here is keep your mind open to everything! Hmmmmmm Feeling a bit like Homer Simpson. I 'm craving a "meatball" sub right about now!!!!

JAMIE'S FOOD REVOLUTION

2010-03-15T10:37:00.005-04:00

Long before I came to the conclusion that my food source could possibly be the culprit of my weight issues there was a man known as the "NAKED CHEF", Jamie Oliver taking the UK's food system by storm.

Many people have suggested that I get in contact with him to join forces to make a change. I first wanted to really see if I would see any difference in me first. Not only have I seen a difference, but so have others. Over two sizes smaller and only 60 days later I have to say that I am becoming partial to what organic could possibly mean for me.

Despite what organic may or may not do Jamie's mission to get people to eat healthier is really important. I was already eating healthy. That was definitely not my issue. Volume of food was sometimes an issue when I went to eat out, but when compared what others can eat it really wasn't terribly much.

Check out the FOOD REVOLUTION that will air this month and be sure to sign the petition that he is circulating.

No matter what we all deserve the option to have better food sources!

DUPED

2010-03-14T12:16:00.006-04:00

Lately I have been scouring the shelves and restaurants to see what is available in organic. After one of the beauty shows I attended I was STARVING and knew that a restaurant with organic food on hand was just not happening.
I decided to duck into a Duane Reade near Penn Station to see if there was some sort of way for me to remedy my hunger.
As I looked through the shelves of high fructose corn syrup laden products I came across a couple of brands that to the untrained eye looked organic.
It appeared that Snyder's of Hanover had come out with some organic chips. I'm not a chip person at all, but I was starving and thought what the hell. As I looked closer at the bag it appeared that Snyder's had mimicked the USDA label on their packaging when in fact it was only advertising Gluten free/ Expeller Pressed Sunflower Oil. I wonder what the USDA would think about this little trademark infringement?!?
In addition Snyder's wants you to feel good about their product being natural so they added some water falls on to the packaging.
As a consumer who is really trying to do my best to adhere to eating a certain way I am really upset at the levels of marketing deception that I am seeing. I'm sure that this product is really close to organic if you look at the ingredients, but given that the company has consciously acted deceptively through their packaging I can only assume that other integrity has yet to be proven!!!
Guess that's what I get for considering a bag of chips to begin with.
In the end I chose to starve.

TASTY TERRI

2010-03-11T15:01:00.007-05:00

Since February I have had quite a few people ask me if I have been to Terri yet. Terri is an organic vegan take out on 23rd street next to 6th avenue.

The first thing that comes to mind when I think of vegan dishes is bland food that's trying to be something. That's why I usually go straight to raw which to me has better life and flavor for my taste buds. That's why I wasn't in a rush to try Terri.

Today I was passing by Terri and decided it was time to pop in. I ordered the "chicken" quesadilla to stay and the bacon cheddar chicken wrap for later on. I was REALLY impressed with the quesadilla! It was full of flavor and bite. The chicken wrap was not really something I would ever order again. They made the "chicken" into a filet that had a very strange texture.

The quesadilla definitely had me intrigued and I will definitely be trying some of their other dishes especially at the prices of $5-8 for most of their menu. I just have to be careful with the wraps. They made me narc out which is usually what happens to me when I eat anything with wheat, but I like to be open to things.

By the way one of the gals that worked there said I have to come back for one of their juices. Not sure if anyone can really top the juices at Gustorganics though!!!

Let me know if you've given them a try at all. I'd love to hear your reviews!

STILL HERE!!!

2010-03-10T12:47:00.004-05:00

Hello all of you loyal organic followers! I love the feedback and support that you have been giving me.

The grueling journey still continues on. It has been a really rough road with a lot of disappointments and confusion. At the same time I am happy to know that spring will be upon us soon and I will have a wonderful opportunity to dig in and start talking to some of the farmers out there.

Just as I have many supporters I too have a lot of people that doubt what I am doing. They don't think organic can be achieved. They think that my physical changes are more mental. There are people that are very close to me who have witnessed the physical changes I have undergone and still don't think my results will happen for others.
They criticize my building my life around the USDA label which is not true. In fact I will be talking about farmers that may not be organic whom I buy from shortly.

The only reason I started this journey is because I knew as a child I had food that grew from our gardens or was sourced locally. I was a thin child all of the way through to my second year of college which is when I moved away from the foods that I was raised on. I still vividly remember the disappointment I had in the food that I was eating when I moved from Kentucky. It only made sense that if I return back to the way I used to eat/live then I will see some changes..... and so far I have! It's more gradual now, but very real!

I can't wait to see what I uncover. I just hope I can last through the amount of deceit that goes on when it comes to "Natural" and "Organic" foods.
Once again thank you all for reading this journey whether you believe it or not.

FOO ON TOFU!

2010-03-01T22:40:00.005-05:00

Yesterday on my way back to the office I walked through Korea town in NYC. There's a restaurant that I have been wanting to try for ages because they widely advertise their Tofu is 100% organic.

When I arrived to my seat I asked the waitress is the meal was 100% organic and not just the Tofu and she said yes. Their menu even advertised no MSG.

Before I could even walk out the door my stomach began to swell. I decided to walk back to the office which is a 15 min brisk walk, and felt my stomach swelling even more by the minute.

I haven't had this kind of reaction since my stomach being paralyzed! I had chosen the vegetarian tofu curry, but something in that meal caused a severe reaction.

After sleeping it off I awoke to swollen hands and bags under my eyes with a swollen face as if I had been on an all night drinking binge.

My energy was also off as if I'd had also been hung over!!!

The only thing I can think of is the waitress must have been mistaken. The only thing that must have been organic was the tofu, if that. Since I walk by there at least once a week I'll have to pull a manager aside to find out what in the heck could possibly be in there to give me that kind of reaction!!!

Moral of the story? Buyer beware!

CHOICES

2010-02-27T23:53:00.005-05:00

After working a long, hard day in the office I decided it was time to take a break at the ping pong club next door called SPIN NYC. I had mentioned them in the beginning because they were the ones trying to accommodate my gluten free diet.

Much to my surprise they had added an organic wine to their alcohol list!!! When one of the owners of the restaurant saw me at the club and asked why I had not been there I told her about my organic journey. She said that actually a lot of what they source is local or what would be considered to be organic!!! She said she would sit down with me and go through the menu to show me what was organic. Yeah!

Some of the staff there said they also noticed that I was losing weight, especially in my face. One of the bartenders who is from Russia said that where she comes from in Russia (Siberia) everything is organic. She said she was super skinny in Russia. She also said they ate more in season which is what Alicia Silverstone talks about in her book the Kind Diet. I asked the bartender if she gained weight moving to the US and she said definitely. 20 lbs extra to her 100 lb frame. She attributes it to eating food in restaurants so she keeps it under control by preparing most of her own food so
that she knows exactly what is in it.

Good info. Looks like I have a date with one of the owners at Spin to figure out what I can eat!!!

A MILESTONE

2010-02-26T14:53:00.005-05:00

It has been 50 days on this journey of organic and today I have really reached a noticeable milestone with my body. I really had no idea what to expect on this journey. Even though I have not been weighing myself in pounds I have seen my bra go from a 44 C/D to a 42C. I have also been wearing a size 22/24 pant and now I am snugly wearing a size 20 pant!!!!!!! I am so happy! I NEVER get swelling in my ankles anymore which gives me the greatest relief!
A few people gave me doubts along the way by saying I must be making other changes other than my organic sourcing (portions,etc). After eating endless amounts of butter, cheese, dairy, etc like it was going out of style I can confidently say that there has to be something definitely different going on with organic and what our body does with it!
All in all I am very happy that I decided to embark on this project so far. Wonder what the rest of the year will bring, but I feel if I could survive this then I can manage the rest of the year. Holidays may be a whole other problem!

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME!

2010-02-25T18:29:00.013-05:00

I am going to go ahead and publish this segment as I go along because there will be several parts to this entry and I didn't want to keep you waiting!!!

The trip to Kentucky and Chicago was NOTHING like I thought it was going to be!

So I got a little nervous about my journey and decided to purchase some organic gluten free bars just in case so I didn't starve! I also had breakfast at Organique before I got on the plane so I was at least set for a while.

When I landed in Chicago I jumped in my rental and began my 6 hour drive to Kentucky. Given there's mostly farmland between the two cities I expected to pass a ton of farms where I could buy my food along the way.

In the over 300 miles I traveled there was only ONE farm that I found along the way: Fair Oaks Farms.

It was like six flags over dairy!!! They produced all kinds of cheeses and dairy. I noticed there were no organic or USDA labels on their cheeses so I asked the sales lady if there were any hormones, antibiotics, or funky feed and she said no. I mentioned they should really advertise that more because it wasn't very evident to me. She said it was on the website,(but after my trip I still didn't find that info very evident).

I decided to buy some Cheddar curd (1st stage of cheese processing), the Sweet Swiss and the Colby cheese. They were divine! I got a chance to share it with my family over the weekend and they remarked on what a good cheese it was! Normally I can NEVER have that much cheese, but this cheese didn't really seem to bother me.

Further down my trip I ran across Donaldson's Fine Chocolates who I have bought from for years for client gifts. I knew he was using pure cane sugar so I thought there might be a chance he had something organic.

Mr. Donaldson is a trip. When I asked him if his chocolates were organic at first he got a little huffy and said they didn't have much of a call for organic chocolate. Then he got a little humorous with me after I told him and his staff about my organic project. He said he would be happy to sell me the chocolate and tell me it was organic like a lot of other people do, but he didn't. I thanked him for his honesty and went on my way. P.S. They still are some very good chocolates and it was a little difficult to leave that aroma empty handed!

One thing I did find fascinating as I traveled down to Kentucky is the use of the land. Hundreds of wind turbines dotted across the land north of Indianapolis. It's nice to see farms and landowners making sound choices to make revenue. Sure beats a bunch of cell phone towers.

I finally arrived to my childhood town of Louisville Kentucky where I remembered an abundance of fresh produce and foods. In addition we used to grow foods in both our garden and my grandparent's very large garden. I was also excited because my dad said one of his friends had started to raise his own chickens and he had a dozen eggs from him I could use to cook our breakfast that weekend. Little did I know what was in store for me.

I directly arrived to my childhood best friend Chris's and found that they had already ordered pizzas from Pizza Hut. She had no idea I was only doing organic, but she wasn't concerned. She has been making a great effort to try to make sure that her family is eating either organic or natural. Even if they have Kool-aid it's the one without the dyes and the sugar she adds is organic. Little did I know how impressed I would be with her efforts to grocery shop until I ventured into the stores myself. In the end I enjoyed an Amy's organic pizza alongside while watching them inhale their Pizza Hut. For the first time I could actually say I was envious. Amy's is really not the tastiest food available!!!

The next morning I went with my brother bright and early to Kroger's so that he could pick up his groceries and baby formula while I gathered the items I would cook for breakfast. They actually had an organic section which was mostly either processed or dairy. Dairy. Dairy. Dairy! Why is it no matter where I go I can only seem to find organic dairy. What about potatoes? What about some organic meat at least? Rice? A few staples? So basically I was planning our meals for the entire trip based on what was readily available.

What I really love about this project is that it made my brother look at things a little differently. He saw the physical changes going on in me. During our shopping trip he even started looking at what was on the labels of some of the food. He picked up a bag of cheese that he found on sale and called me over to look at the ingredients on the bag. We were both mortified! It wasn't even cheese. It was imitation cheese that didn't expire for another 5 months! We couldn't pronounce most of the ingredients, but I kept in mind price was the initial lure for my brother and had I not been there he would probably be still walking with that cheese in his intestines for the next month.

We came back from our grocery trip and I immediately began breakfast. I used ALL organic products. I mixed together the eggs, milk, a WHOLE stick of salty butter, half a block of cheese from the farm and some frozen potatoes to accompany the eggs. I also was able to find some organic oranges. Everyone seemed to love the eggs AND even my picky 3 yr old nephew finished his eggs and asked for more which never happens.

The next day I had to go back and do it all over again for my dad, uncle, and stepmom.
This time in a whole separate end of town I had to visit a Meijers, Walmart, AND Kroger just to get enough variety of foods to make breakfast. I cooked the same thing as before only adding fried polenta, avocado, cherry tomatoes, hemp granola, yogurt, agave, and acai juice to the menu. It went over really well. What was even more impressive is that I was using REALLY large amounts of butter, cheese, olive oil, and other rich ingredients and not gaining any weight!!!!! Hmmmmmmmm. I ended up having to get my own eggs instead of using my dad's friends. We got in a fight over the eggs after I found out that his friend had a contract with Tyson. I've already seen what some of Tyson's requirements are and so even if I wanted to use the eggs my dad already felt insulted.

Moving into the evening I knew was going to be difficult. My grade school reunion was going to be taking place at a bar and I assumed nothing there would be organic. I asked around to see if my family knew of organic liquor anywhere. Most of them had no idea organic liquor even existed. I decided to visit the liquor store next to my school and asked them if they had ANY alcohol that was organic. They said they weren't aware if they did have any so I decided to peruse the isles anyway only to find they did have Organic Vodka from a brand called Rain. One flask and one bottle purchase later I was on my way to the reunion. I felt equipped to handle people I haven't seen in 20 years! It was a wonderful evening even though I did go hungry for a bit, but I stopped at the store and picked up an organic yogurt. Again there seems to be no shortage of organic dairy anywhere!

Saying farewell to Louisville I drove back to Chicago with absolutely no food available. It was truly disheartening. Finally I passed a Meijer's just south of Indianapolis and decided to see what I could dig up there. It only took minutes to tell that I was located somewhere in Amish town. I felt like an old throwback of some sort with the bonnets and hats that some of the shoppers were wearing. I sooo wanted to ask to take their photos, but they were already giving me strange enough looks as it was!

In the aisles there were Amish cheeses and very little organic produce, but I was REALLY impressed with all of the Meijers brand organic products. That tells me that there is some sort of demand for these types of products.

In the end I was only able to pick up an organic yogurt, a brick of Meijers brand organic cheese, and a box of organic granola bars. Everything else would have required some cooking. The cheese was definitely not the quality of the Fair Oaks Farms cheese. It was VERY salty as well.

(To Be CONTINUED!)

ROAD TRIP!

2010-02-18T23:55:00.004-05:00

It looks like I get to take this Organic project on the road. I have my grade school reunion this saturday in Kentucky. I spent 9 years with these people! I'll be flying into Chicago in the morning and driving to Kentucky. I've decided to see if my journey will be one of starvation. I am going completely unplanned under the trust that I will find something organic somewhere.

I just couldn't stand to bring anything prepackaged on the road with me. As I said a lot of packaged organic products seem to have organic cane syrup which I try to stay from to keep my insulin from spiking! I also didn't have time to get any fresh fruit, etc because I have been dependent upon the restaurants surrounding me. To say the least this is going to be very interesting. I'll take lots of photos.

In addition I've already warned my dad that I will be eating only organic while I am at home. He and my stepmother do very well with a lot of their foods since they grow so much in their garden. He also said he would have fresh eggs from his friend's chickens (which I can't wait to indulge in). I think in the back of his head he thinks that eating organic is a bit hokey though. I told him once he takes a look at me he can decide if organic is making a difference or not. I haven't seen him since christmas.

On a different note I was so upset I had to miss out on a major restaurant opening at Jean Georges. That was a REALLY big deal to turn down. I know a lot of fashion people don't eat very much, but when you are specifically going to a restaurant opening it's probably not the best thing to be a social outcast among that group. How upsetting. The person who invited me is a very well-known writer who thought it wouldn't be such a big deal to cheat on one meal. BUT to me I am remaining loyal throughout the entire year! I really must know for myself if organic is really going to make a difference!!!

As you can see I have also attached a fuller length photo taken of me this week from fashion week. I've had some inquiries at to what my body looks like right now. At the start of this journey the scales leaned towards 300 lbs! I would estimate here that I am about 265 lbs already! Mind you I was also still swollen from a wreckless doctor last year so I can imagine some of this loss is edema (water). I am not weighing myself until I am further along into this project. This is not about a weight loss. This is about observing BOTH the physical and mental changes going on from this journey.

Thanks to my friend Casey for shooting this photo of me.

By the way I doubt I will have the internet access that I need during this trip to update this blog so I will catch you on the other side of the reunion either feb 24th or feb 25th.

Have a great weekend and wish me luck!!!

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

2010-02-17T11:04:00.003-05:00

Thanks to Ameena Meer for sending this to me. Once again organic food is about trust.

Speaking of trust it's even difficult for the textile industry to regulate. What some textile people have told me is that companies that are "Fair Trade" or "Organic" actually will collect industrial materials from other companies and sell it under their certification!!!!

So the question here is are regulators understaffed or is there actually a conspiracy going on? Either way I like what one person said which was to try to buy locally so that at least one can look the farmer straight in the eye!

This is really a shame.

FAT TUESDAY

2010-02-16T22:07:00.004-05:00

Ah....Fat Tuesday....Mardi Gras as some people know it. One of my friends and I made plans to attend my current stomping grounds, Gustorganics once again. We order a Hempenada, the Skirt Steak, mashed potatoes, tomato stewed green beans, salad, a champagne for myself, and she had a Sangria. Once again I had to keep a friend from moaning too much over the food. She loved it, but what she liked about it most is that it was the first meal in years that did not give her some sort of indigestion. She can't really tolerate dairy either and she was able to stomach the cheese in the hempenada. In fact she enjoyed dinner so much she insisted on paying the tab....second time this has happened to me! That never happens to me anywhere.

So after our delish dinner we whisked away to my friend D'Angelo's fashion party. D'Angelo had a beautiful spread of red velvet and other various cupcakes that I had to take a photo of. They were really a sight to behold, but not organic! In case you were wondering they came from Aunt Butchie's Of Brooklyn. The great thing was I WAS NOT TEMPTED! Maybe because I had just eaten a satisfying meal, but the old Mary would have still had room to try dessert. After all don't want to hurt anyone's feelings right? Look at that photo and tell me you wouldn't have been tempted.

Anyway it was another satisfying evening of organic with kindred spirits and slowly people are beginning to understand that Organic might actually make a difference!

YOU'RE WORTH IT!

2010-02-15T22:25:00.007-05:00

In some ways I worry that I sound like an extremist with my Organic journey. Some people are jaded and have doubts about what I am doing. I am truly organic based on a trust system. I have to trust when the restaurants and farmers say they are giving me foods that not have been modified or hormone ridden until I learn to educate myself better.

But I can't deny the weight that I have been losing, the sleep that my body demands, the toxin bumps that are coming out in various places, the lack of a need to occasionally binge....all while under a great deal of stress. There has to be something said for that.

Eating Organic is only difficult now because there isn't a demand. People are sometimes afraid to demand what they think they deserve. I feel like I deserve to know what is in my food and make choices for myself. I shouldn't have to move back to Kentucky and start growing my own garden to know for sure what I'm getting.

The question is how can we make Organic practical? We are a society that has no time and fast food has made us lazy (not that I hardly touched fast food), but it's the other food that I worry about.

The other factor that people constantly bring up is cost. Well that I have found to be pretty simple. We eat too much here in the United States. What happened to quality and not quantity? I am satisfied with a lot less food these days than ever before. That is because my body is satisfied and doesn't feel the need to eat enormous portions. So far the cost of food comes out to be the same if not even less than I would normally pay!!!

Don't get me wrong. THIS IS A LOT OF WORK!, but if I feel like this is making a difference for someone like me then I don't mind doing the work for everyone else.

Just like L'oreal says- because you're worth it!

ROCKET SCIENCE

2010-02-13T01:17:00.005-05:00

Just a quickie for you guys. At Gustorganics I have had the opportunity to test a few different desserts like the one pictured here. The best moment I love is a couple of days ago I had a chance to share a lovely organic chocolate fondue fruit plate with a friend of mine. And you know something? I totally forgot how fresh fruit ripens when it's organic! In fact right as my friend and I were speaking the bananas were turning brown right before our eyes!

The moral of the story is you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure out if you're eating organic or not! Be in tune with your food!

HOLY MACRO!

2010-02-10T23:20:00.007-05:00

Tonight was a great night! I met up with one of my really good friends that I haven't seen in a while because she's too busy flying around the world doing celeb hair and campaigns while I'm trying to run a business in a fragile economy.

We decided to meet at a Macrobiotic Restaurant in New York City. I wasn't sure if it was organic, but it was listed in Clean Plates New York City.

I ordered the macro plate which consisted of rice, beans, hijiki seaweed, kale, carrots, broccoli, and what I think was a yam or squash. The restaurant advertises online that it is organic, yet when you look at the menu only certain selections of their menu say organic next to the food item. Before I ordered I asked the hostess (that I have seen there for at least a couple of years) if their food was organic and she said she didn't think so. Then I asked her if the food was locally sourced and she said no, "it comes from all over". Hmmmmm.

Well I figured I would see what the difference was......the taste..... there was none.
I know what organic vegetables out of my very own garden taste like and this was void of taste. If you blindfolded me and asked me to name what I just ate......I couldn't. That's how bad this was. I continued to eat to see how I would feel. I was content at the end of the meal, but not satisfied by the taste. My friend thought her fish was okay. If this is what organic was about I would never get anyone off of the crap they're eating now!!!

So the question is Macrobiotic just another word for tasteless food? I've got to find another one in the city to compare! In addition are they one of the restaurants that others have warned me about that buys only a few products organic so that they can call themselves organic? That's why I'm purposely withholding the name of this restaurant until I get down to the bottom of this.

Part 2 of the evening was much more successful. My friend and I decided to brave the snowy tundra of new york to meet her friends at a bar called Puck Fair. She was a little concerned that I wouldn't find anything organic there.

I asked the bartender if they had any kind of organic liquor and at first he didn't think he had anything, but then he returned with a bottle of Wiesen Edel-Weisse beer. My friend couldn't believe a place like Puck Fair would have a USDA certified beer. I finally explained to my friend my Organic project. At that time she told me she could not believe how good I looked. She said she wanted to mention back at the restaurant she saw changes, but the biggest change to her was evident in my hands. She said "your hands always looked swollen to me in the past, but today your hands...really all of you looks like you've really lost some weight". I knew she was sincere because for me the swelling in my hands and ankles had been bothering me for a while.

When the beer came I was curious to see what would happen. I don't have a good history with beer. I really swell up when I drink beer. I'm not sure why. I have been tested to have a wheat intolerance and this beer definitely has wheat in it. Much to my amazement I had no swelling! How can that be? Now I'm going to have to really figure out why this beer doesn't bother me. It's very sweet and smooth. I really enjoyed the beer.

So tonight I have two more assignments: try another macrobiotic location and figure out what makes me allergic to beer....except for this one!

Cheers!

p.s. By the time I got back to my office this evening I was really hungry. Generally the Organic Food I've been eating has left me quite satisfied for much longer periods.
Hmmmmmm again.

FAST FOOD NATION

2010-02-08T22:12:00.007-05:00

Taco Bell's New Green Menu Takes No Ingredients From Nature

I think the biggest question I've heard at least once a day over the entire month is "How are you able to afford Organic"?! "Isn't Organic expensive?"

In the very little time I've had with Organic I can firmly say with industrial food you are paying for quantity, not quality. Our portions here in the US are enormous. For some reason I always felt I had to eat so much more because I was just never satisfied with the food.

For example if you go to McDonald's you're getting a value meal of over 2000 calories for about $5-$7. The thing is if you ask most people who eat McDonald's or any other fast food they aren't satisfied with just the one meal for the entire day. People are packing on the pounds merely because the calories they ate didn't make them content!

With organic I have been able to actually spread my portions throughout the day AND pay even less for my food. As I also mentioned in an earlier post Alicia Silverstone also discusses in her book THE KIND DIET that eating in season and locally also keeps costs down!

The moral of the story is I am content when I eat my food. I don't eat and then think about when I'm going to have my next meal as I have done in the past. My mood and energy is better. I'm saving on doctor bills for health. Oh, and my weight is going down nice and gradually.

For a little comic relief I thought I'd attach this video I found. LOL!

A LITTLE TEA AND SYMPATHY

2010-02-07T20:17:00.005-05:00

It's been just over four weeks of Organic ladies and gents.

Guess what? I'm still losing weight. I went through a bad spell of detox bumps on my chest in the beginning. My sleep has improved. A photo speaks volumes so once again I'm posting a photo after a little over 3 weeks. I and others see more of a difference in person.

One big thing I noticed is now that I'm eating organic I don't have cravings or the desire to really overeat unless I'm out socially. I've had some major portions at Gustorganics to the extent we all rolled out of the restaurant, but it doesn't seem like portion has a significant role in this.

I had a chai tea tonight with friend that was probably not organic. It is my second beverage in four weeks that was not organic. We chose a place in Korea town because it was one of the few places that has a place where you can sit down and have a non-alcoholic drink on a Sunday night that was convenient for both of us. I felt it was important to hear what my friend had to say and didn't want to stress him out over my organic situation.

Besides that I have not had anything that was not considered certified organic or locally sourced. It's been a good balance of meat and vegetables.

I think after the second month I will be able to have a better evaluation of the effects of organic. So far....I like it!

KOSHER VS ORGANIC

2010-02-06T13:15:00.011-05:00

Sorry I missed an entry day guys. I was on assignment for a project for Nightline that will be airing on the 22nd.

It just so happens I have a very heavy Jewish client base of which many are very strict Kosher. We were discussing if there was a difference between Kosher meat and Organic meat. Most of them did not think that there was a difference.
Given that I have been doing work with some Rabbis for our Organic Chocolate I thought that this would be a great chance to get some information.
Finding Kosher products is so much easier than finding Organic products at least here in New York.
The Rabbi that we deal with is usually pretty busy so I did a little investigation online first. I think this answers a lot of questions.
I hate to break it to my clients, but it seems as though Kosher is just not enough.

FRESH DIRECT WHO?

2010-02-04T00:17:00.005-05:00

Goodbye Fresh Direct. Hello Organic Direct!

I was looking for some other restaurants to meet people at that carried organic alcohol and ran into The Organic Grill in NYC on 1st avenue. I haven't been there YET, but they did list on their website Organic Direct if you wanted organic groceries delivered to your home.

I checked it out and they have a wide variety of groceries, ORGANIC GROCERIES available from mostly local sources. Do I hear interview? Why am I just finding out about this?
They also deliver to my office......for free!!!

I'm going to test them out to see what it's like and get back to you all, but after some of the disappointment I've had I am so happy to finally see an organic oasis!!!

p.s. for you New Yorkers they also have a great referral program!!!

p.p.s. Fresh Direct never got back to me about their organic section labeling. I always had a problem with them anyway. They use too many boxes with no recycling program even after all of this time!!

"HAVE IT YOUR WAY"

2010-02-03T15:38:00.006-05:00

Given a need for continued discovery and research I decided to look at one of Jared's finds from Clean Plates NYC. Chipotle is actually one block down from my office. I went online first to check out what the story is with it's organic/resourcing status. I am quite impressed with the efforts that it has put in to make fast food healthy. It does show that healthier food can be done on a mass scale. The cheese is a vegetable-based rennet(vegetarian). 30% of their beans are organic. The chicken is raised with high standards....so I decided to indulge in the burrito bowl which consisted of rice, beans, chicken, guacamole, cheese, lettuce, and hot sauce.
It's about an hour later and I am really feeling a bloat that I haven't had in a while. I'm also very thirsty.

While Chipotle's burrito bowl wins in taste, there's two things the bloat could possibly be: the beans (which I don't normally have that problem with beans) or the salt content. I would believe that the salt could be the culprit because I downed 1 quart of water in this cold weather a lot faster than I normally do.

Not sure if Chipotle is the place for me at this time, but I applaud their efforts and hopefully I will get a chance to ask the CEO about his thoughts on organic, etc.
Here's a quick clip direct from the CEO about chicken and antibiotics.

EATING WILD

2010-02-02T01:42:00.004-05:00

Once again I was feeling a little disappointed after I tasted what distinctly resembled rubbing alcohol on my kale today. Kale was a big staple in my family and trust me I never tasted Kale like that before. The problem with me is I have a VERY sensitive palette. In fact there was a restaurant that I used to frequent that would have me taste test everything they made. They would try to trick me at times. It was a real struggle for them to trip me up because they really couldn't. It took them three years to finally give up.....or maybe I did.

Anyway I was a little sad until my friend Lisa brightened up my day with a very resourceful listing of grass-fed cows, etc. I think this will come in handy.

Thank you Lisa!

BREAKFAST OF CHAMPIONS

2010-01-31T21:36:00.006-05:00

I was a little crazed this morning to get my laundry done after I got a last-minute call to do something for the Tyra Banks show today. I was at the end of my cute clothes.
That being said there was only a very large corner deli available for me to get my nourishment from....especially at 8am.

I began to scour the store for organic products or even anything that would resemble something even healthy. I've found that most delis at least carry Stonyfield yogurt. I was a little disgruntled over the fact that the only thing that I found in the ENTIRE STORE was a honey Honest Tea. Nothing like having some organic cane sugar to start your day off right!

I have discovered most organic products that are conveniently available to me are prepackaged. I'm seeing a LOT of organic cane sugar in a lot of these certified organic products which is really not good for the insulin!!!! It's only going to spike it and make me gain weight with my already fragile metabolism.

The question is would you do the prepackaged organic products or the possibly GMO fresh foods? I would prefer fresh, but I'd rather speak to an expert about this.

To finish my story when I got to the cash register I looked at the bottle and told the clerk out of the 2000+ sq feet he has in that store only 1 product was organic.
He just looked at me a little puzzled and could only say "really?".

I wanted to say and by the way most of the rest of the store's products organic or not were garbage. But the reality is if people weren't making these choices they wouldn't stock their stores with this crap!

A 'CLEAN' PLATE

2010-01-29T17:10:00.006-05:00

As of this saturday I am completing my third week of my organic journey. It's not easy here in the Big Apple! At this moment I am taking in information and looking for guidance in all sorts of areas! For instance my friend Lisa just told me Alicia Silverstone has a new book called The Kind Diet which sounds very interesting. She said it includes reasons we shouldn't eat foods that are not in season.

For weeks now a particular book has been staring me in the face when I check out at the register of Organique. It's titled Clean Plates NYC. I just purchased it the other day because I found out Organique was on the approved list. The book is by a Nutritionist, Jared Koch and Food Critic, Alex Van Buren. All of the 75+ Restaurants had to undergo certain criteria. Taste, Atmosphere, Type of Cuisine, Lifestyle, Geography, Healthfulness of ingredients, Food Source, High percentage of veggies on the menu, etc.

I truly applaud Jared for taking on such and ambitious and very necessary project. I was sad when I began to scan the book and didn't find Gustorganics. I immediately emailed Jared to ask why Gustorganics did not make the cut? Chipotle did, but Gustorganics didn't? He explained that Gustorganics is in the supplemental list as "Healthy, not Tasty".

Not tasty? I had to figure this out! Were my taste buds not fully operating? I decided to enlist my friend Lisa this evening for dinner because she always gives here unfiltered opinion to me (because we just have that kind of relationship). She (just as Maureen) was "blown away" and by they time we got to dessert, the organic chocolate fondue with organic fruits, we couldn't control the groans coming out of our mouths. It was like two women reenacting a scene out of WHEN HARRY MET SALLY! One of the hosts thought it was so funny he couldn't resist topping us off with a taste of organic champagne. The staff was quite amused.

Clean Plates NYC also puzzles me because I look at some of the places that made the list like Angelica Kitchen and feel a lot less inspired by their menu. Angelica's foods were heavy and dense for me, but it's been several years since I've eaten there. Quintessence is also not on the list. Quintessence does a raw menu that doesn't seem as taxing on the intestines as Pure Food and Wine (also on the list). This is Jared's book and not everyone is going to have the same preferences.

Whole Foods is also on the list which renders some questions. I was told only 15% of their food is organic. The Organic Consumer's Association has even posted a letter from Sept 2009 urging Whole Foods to straighten up their act.

Once again I am left with a lot of confusion and feel like I am just entering inside of a crossfire I didn't intend to encounter.

I wave the white flag and trust that this year the proof will be the changes in my own body, health, and mind. There's a lot of things brewing in my mind, but don't worry, I'll keep pushing forward!

INTEGRITY

2010-01-28T16:21:00.006-05:00

When I decided to go into business for myself I told myself I would do it in a way that would not compromise integrity. It's almost impossible to find businesses that are honest with their customer out there. I hear that honesty doesn't make money, but I plan on showing the world otherwise.

A couple of quotes I have kept in mind were "Behind every great fortune there is a crime."- Honore de Balzac and "Business is the art of extracting money from another man's pocket without resorting to violence"- Max Amsterdam.

Taking on a company that provides food that is either organic or locally sourced and the equivalent is a very daunting task especially in this economy. I am already starting to taste the differences in "organic" food in some places. I think I'm starting to pick up on what one business owner explained to me which is: a restaurant will call itself organic when it only buys a few organic chickens and the rest of the chickens they prepare come from industrial sources. I also know this is true. I have several restaurant owners around that source their food from the food industrial giant Sysco. They keep a lot of businesses running. That's what part of this journey is about figuring out our food and its sources.

On a different note here are a few more observations that I picked up in regards to my physical appearance. I know I picked up a bit of belly weight which that means it is directly from the food. I don't want to hear about the cortisol theory. I already know the culprit. The only thing that changed this week is I went three times to Gustorganics where the portions are MUCH larger than what I usually eat. One of their plates could feed two people comfortably which is also a greater value for your money.

The fact that I am able to weigh my food and use a particular container size at Organique really keeps me consistent. There is also a wider variety of vegetables like purple cabbage and eggplant. So the one thing in my diet that did change was variety. I still keep the ratios of meat and veggies the same. I don't do very much fruit. From time to time I will eat bread as part of a gluten-fee sandwich. I may have an acai juice here and there, but again NOTHING HAS CHANGED IN THIS PROJECT BUT THE SOURCE OF MY FOOD. That being said I have a very big trust issue about my food and as one writer put it "I'd rather go to the farmer's market and look him in the eye and know what I am getting rather than trust what I am being told that I am getting!"

Looks like I'm going to have to enlist one of my chef friends into this project if I can. On to the farmer's market!

THE FIRST LADY

2010-01-26T23:00:00.005-05:00

I have to say I was both inspired by my interview with Alberto Gonzalez and invigorated by the food that followed. It has made me want to do food socials at Gustorganics. More to follow on that later.

I don't believe I've had as many compliments on my skin as I have today! Everyone including one of the girls that works with me wondered what I was doing with my skin. I said I have been doing the very same thing every day except changing the source of my food.

When one of my last clients of the day asked about my skin I told her about this organic project. I also explained to her that I want to go around to grade schools and high schools and educate kids about our food sources and create a grocery/menu for low to middle income families. She suggested I go straight to the top and make alliances with Michelle Obama who has a similar initiative.

As most people know Michelle Obama has been trying to increase the number of fruits and vegetables that kids eat to decrease the rate of childhood obesity. She started off by planting an organic garden at the White House. She also goes around to the schools and tells the kids "if you want to grow up big and strong like me you need to eat your fruits and veggies". Anyone out there know Michelle?

On a completely different note thank you Julie for the Organic Raisins! They're delish!

I HAVE A DREAM

2010-01-25T20:12:00.004-05:00

......was the message the proprietor of Gustorganics, Alberto Gonzalez conveyed in our interview. As I said in a previous post, this native Argentinian has developed the first 100% USDA Organic Restaurant in the USA.

What I loved most about Alberto is that he built something based on an idea. He wanted everyone to see that we are killing ourselves with industrial food. The "Frankenstein" Mc-America-$5.00-meal that our government and corporations have created is killing us. We are one of the sickest, food-related diseased countries in the world. Alberto felt that if he made an example that showed it's possible for Americans to eat Organically and for businesses to profit, then his message could succeed. Alberto didn't set out to be a restauranteur. He set out to change the world.

As the interview went along further Alberto began to really show his sincere passion. I asked him questions like what is the difference between Gustorganics and Whole Foods? He said while they are making an effort that is needed in the food industry only 15% of Whole Foods is organic whereas his restaurant was 100% Organic. Alberto likes to source from local farmers for his food supply and encourages farmers with organic practices to get certified with the USDA. USDA is important to him because it is a good guideline to help make our food better.

Another good point that Alberto made is that a lot of people complain about the price of Organic. "Our portions in America are too large," says Gonzales. In europe they eat half as much food as we do. If America's portions were where they should be then it would not cost as much to eat Organic and the quality of life would increase.

I actually can second that theory. At the restaurant Organique where I eat all of my meals, they weigh their food by the pound at the hot and cold bars. My meals have been costing between $5-$8 which is cheaper than other restaurants for the same type of food! For lunch I had amazing chicken with brussel sprouts. Yesterday I had grilled salmon with quinoa and roasted tomatoes. I also find it's cheaper to eat that way in the end because the food is more satisfying.

In the end I played a little bit of a devil's advocate and mentioned that what if Organic is all hype? Maybe it's just the fact that Americans eat so much crap that it is really the cause to all of this sickness. BUT as a reminder this project is not about eating well. It is about ONLY changing the source of my food. In fact this morning I had an organic chocolate granola bar (120 calories).

After the Divine Eggs Benedict I had with Maureen two Sundays ago I couldn't pass up the opportunity to grab dinner there.

I decided to go all out for the skirt steak accompanied by broccoli and mashed potatoes. Alberto is from Argentina so I had to test to see if the meat was really that good.

It was unbelievable! It was so good it tasted like the food had a flavor enhancer. I savored the entire plate (which could have easily fed two), but I wanted to see what would happen if I finished my entire plate like I've always been trained to do.

On my very infantile organic food journey I give Gustorganics 5 stars!

In the meantime I'm so inspired by Alberto's mission that I'm going to try to see if he and Intelligent Nutrients could work together.....I love a challenge!

LET THEM EAT CAKE!

2010-01-24T16:42:00.007-05:00

If someone had told me this tiny little cake was going to be split among over 20 people and that we would all be full off of it I would have thought you were nuts. Actually that's in fact what the baker told us.
This masterpiece called a strawberry shortcake is a raw cake. Raw means this cake has never been cooked. Given that the cake was so dense and satisfying the creator was correct. The entire room was bursting at the seams from this little cake..... and there were even three different kinds of cakes to try!
The icing tasted like cream cheese and the amount of strawberry flavor.....divine!
I was invited by Dhrumil, one of my organic/raw guides to attend a raw food gathering in Brooklyn New York at a new cafe that just opened called Sun In Bloom.
I had no clue what this event was going to be like. In general when I eat out at raw restaurants they go really heavy in the nuts which gives my stomach a really big workout, but this menu was really invigorating.
Meeting the "tribe", which consisted of people of all ages (but generally people in their 20's and 30's) was even more interesting.
I had a chance to ask people why they decided to go raw. Most of them answered that it was out of their own varied health conditions and concerns.
We spoke about food sourcing, the challenges of raw, the perceptions of vegetarianism, aging as a vegetarian, cleanses, and my project.
I expressed that for now I was still going to consume meat if my body craves it. Again, the only thing that is changing for this project is my food source.
We all left the cafe a little more nourished and a l myself a little more enlightened.
I must get the recipe for that Strawberry Shortcake!

TOMORROW'S FUTURE

2010-01-22T23:51:00.007-05:00

Today I am very sad and even more determined to make sure what's in this photo that I found online does not become mainstream America!
Right now I probably know more people with lap bands and gastric bypasses than I do with cancer. There are all kinds of weight gain and weight loss theories out there. For me the ONLY thing I ever found to help me lose weight was the Elementals Wellness System. They have 30 programs for basically almost every diet type: vegan, kosher, on the go, but not the drastically-stressed-executive-that-doesn't-leave-her-office-but-to-go-home-and-take-a-shower meal plan! When I followed it I had lost 40 lbs in about 6 months. It was very easy, but I think that something even simpler has to happen to all of our diets. My theory still resides within the fact that our mass produced food might not be processing by our bodies.

In skincare, a cancer practitioner named Denie Hiestand had explained to me that when the body can't process a chemical absorbed by the skin, the body wraps the chemical up with a tumor to protect the body from the chemical.
I have heard many others since say the same thing and thus the green movement in skincare right now.

Again I am very neutral on this matter. Hopefully in a year we will discover the answer together. The only thing that I can do is sit back and wait and be loyal to the organic journey....for the kids.

THE SHRINKING LADY!

2010-01-22T18:51:00.005-05:00

We're approaching two weeks of TOTALLY organic now. Aside from one cup of questionable mint tea and the mislabeling of some pirate's booty (once again in too much of a rush) I have resisted the many temptations and social discomforts of remaining loyal to the project.

There are MANY things that I notice and that others notice in me as well. The first one is I have lost ONE FULL cup size in my breasts. Not funny!!! My hands and ankles are smaller. My stomach looks flatter. My face and neck are even a tiny bit smaller and it's only been two weeks and I feel like the shrinking woman. All of my clients are saying how good I look. The question is why am I losing this weight by only changing the source of my food?!? NOTHING else has changed in my diet. I'm taking the same supplements and still working out every single day on the eliptical for 200 calories.

I find that my body craves sleep more. I used to never need sleep. My mind is a bit clearer. There is an overall calm despite the chaos of the business world for me.

Several people have also asked me if I am hungrier or fuller these days.
At first I was really full after I ate, but now I find myself hungrier more often.
I also have this great satisfaction when I have eaten instead of wondering what else I should be eating. Hopefully that answers the question.

I'm still wondering if I'm going to continue to lose weight? I'll take it if that's the case.

Dhrumil is in town and has asked me to attend a group gathering of raw/natural foodies. I'm trying my best to fit it into my schedule so that I can learn from them and try to figure out how to make this whole Organic thing easier.

Thanks for reading!
MS

HAITI BENEFIT

2010-01-20T22:27:00.003-05:00

Hi Guys!
Tonight I have to run to a last minute benefit for Haiti.
Got some interesting stuff to talk about tomorrow.
Please pray for the continued safety for everyone in Haiti and for all of those that are bravely going down to help aid and rescue!!!

INTERVENTION

2010-01-19T23:07:00.009-05:00

Fresh Direct never replied to my comment about foods misplaced in their 'organic' category.

I decided before I start getting frustrated I need to call in some people that have been doing this a heck of a lot longer than I have. I need some tips on living organic. It seems as though this is not going to be an easy task for me to deal with.

First on the list is a very nice gentleman named Dhrumil Purohit. I think I first started following him on twitter around June of last year? What I liked about him is he doesn't preach raw and he seems very upbeat. I like that he relates to food as a full (mind, body, spirit) experience. It's very much a communal and social experience for him. You should check him out.

I love raw. I feel energized with raw foods, but when I don't get meat on certain occasions I don't feel balanced. It's not a discussion I want to have with anyone as of yet. The first focus of this journey is finding out if organic makes any difference on the body.

I'm hoping that Dhrumil will help open my eyes to new things on this journey. We've just met online so this is unfolding as I'm writing. I hope that he can help all of you who may be thinking of embarking on this kind of journey as well.

As a little side note some of my clients and friends are noticing that I am losing weight. Most of them don't know that I have started this adventure. I have not weighed myself, but I have lost the swelling in my hands, face, and some of my stomach. Oh, and my initial fatigue has lifted quite a bit. Still wondering what that could possibly be. It would be really scary to say I had to detox from my food!!!

VERBAL SPANKING

2010-01-18T12:38:00.005-05:00

I am so angry right now! There is a company called Fresh Direct here in New York City that I just got a shipment from. I usually don't order from them because I can't stand how many boxes they go through without any sort of recycling program! Such a waste. I will admit they do have some of the higher quality produce and perishables in the city.

I had to order from Fresh Direct this weekend because Whole Foods ran out of their 365 Electrolyte water...indefinitely because someone can't get the bottle deposit sticker attached to their bottles that New York State Law requires them to have. Lame.

You're probably wondering why I'm even ordering bottles of water in the first place. New York law allows my business only to serve beverages in closed containers so I really don't have too many sanitary options. I also want to make sure our clients get enough hydration after our treatments so it's for their convenience as well. (We do hire a special recycling service by the way!!!)

Anyway back to the anger part. I went online to order out of the organic section.
I went to each category: beverages, snacks, etc and ordered baby carrots, Acai juice, KASHI bars, etc. I have never looked at a Kashi box so I did not know that it was not organic until I received my groceries. In fact only two of the 6 items I ordered were organic. What's really not so funny is when I got my packing receipt only the Kashi is listed in the organic and natural (love how they add the natural to the receipt) and everything else is listed in other categories. I went back to the site to see if I had accidentally gone to another part of their site and surely enough I was still in the "ORGANIC" section of the web.

I immediately emailed Fresh Direct and complained about their Organic section situation. I suggested to them that the certified organic should be separated from the natural. To me natural has typified bland anyway.

I have learned a very big lesson. It seems as though unless the word "ORGANIC" is in the name of the product it's not going to be organic. Even if organic is in the name it may not even be organic. This is such a pain in the butt!!!

I'll let you know if Fresh Direct decides to reply!

WHAT'S THE BUZZ?

2010-01-17T11:17:00.008-05:00

So I'm sitting in a diner called Big Daddy's at 2am with a group of 9 people. I endured watching them eat gorgeous veggie burgers and drink their oreo milkshakes while I sipped on my organic chamomile-lemon tea. That was the ONLY organic thing on the robust menu and I once again didn't want to be a social downer.

The honey that accompanied my tea became the table's topic of discussion.
My beautiful tea package said "PURE" honey. It said that it's produced by the Dickinson family in Oxnard, California. Could this imply that it's organic even though the word organic is not on the label? Many people have told me that some farmers can't afford the USDA label but it doesn't mean that they're not organic.

Back to the honey... I am somewhat of an authority on bees and honey since my grandfather used to be a beekeeper (despite his risk of going into anaphylactic shock from a bee sting). I myself was part of the Beekeepers Association of Kentucky for a few years. I have always been conscious of where my honey came from, but these days you can never be too sure. I have always avoided honey from China (you usually see them in the squeeze bears) because they boiled all of the nutritional benefits out of it. In 2007 Chinese honey was so bad that it was banned in the US and so the Chinese would ship it to Australia and then to the US to make it look like Australian honey. The reason Chinese honey is now banned is because it now contains the antibiotic chloramphenicol which has been linked to cancer.

I would consider Canada a very clean, wholesome kind of landscape overall, but bees will pollinate a plant whether it has pesticides or not and Canada is not exempt from pesticides. The honey can't just be a candidate for organic just because of that. However a beekeeper can know the source of his honey just by looking at the color of the honey and knowing what plants are grown around him. For example honey that is lighter in Kentucky means it's usually coming from a clover flower. Those are great for tasting. Darker honey is great for baking.

While writing this entry I decided to look up the brand since I'm not familiar with them. I can assume they have the money to do Organic labeling because they have a line of Organic Jams with the USDA label. This particular container is distributed by Smuckers.

In addition they were kind enough to post the link for the USDA organic guidelines.

And that's all the "BUZZ" for today!

EAT FIRST. ASK QUESTIONS LATER.

2010-01-16T15:02:00.008-05:00

I have this way of reviewing beauty products where I do a quick evaluation on the product's ingredients and the company's history and then I find someone to test the product on. I don't care about what the company claims. I look for my own results. Believing claims generally leads to a lot of disappointment.

Today I approached the restaurant Gustorganics the same way. On a fly by chance Maureen Choi (a very talented beauty editor and friend of mine whom I met through Bridal Guide Magazine) had asked if I had time to take a break and meet with her for some tea. I thought this would be a great opportunity to find out what Gustorganics is all about. She seemed game as well. I only revealed to her I was doing a blog and hoped that she didn't mind being victim of the organic experiment. The only thing I briefed her on was that the restaurant is the first USDA FULLY certified organic restaurant in the United States.

Once we sat down to our table and looked through our stylishly textured bamboo(?) menus, I explained "it's a shame to walk all the way to the restaurant for just a drink without sampling any food from the menu". Maureen agreed.

We asked the server what the best dishes were and both settled to share the eggs benedict. Maureen also ordered a mango smoothie. I went for the cappuccino.

Maureen's drink came out first. She took a sip and her eyes grew big. All she could say is "WOW!"....which translates into I've never had this experience before. Then Maureen offered me a sip of her Mango smoothie after which I felt like standing on top of my chair and announcing "people have you tried this???!!!!". My cappuccino came out and I took a sip. It wasn't as strong as I'm used to, but VERY smooth. I really enjoyed it.

Then our eggs benedict came out. They were a picture perfect sight. The taste? Amazing....so full of flavor. We were both in a bit of shock and bliss all at the same time. She then asked me if Organique gave me the same feeling? I explained that it wasn't quite as amazing, but I could definitely tell the difference between the quality and love in their food versus that of other regular restaurants. The whole meal knocked my socks off and Maureen said it blew her hair back!

Now it was time to ask questions. I went up to someone who worked for the restaurant and explained I wanted to interview the owner for my blog. I revealed a little about what I was doing there and how impressed we were. He agreed that the owner would be the best person to answer my questions because it was really the owner's vision to have americans eventually eat like this all over the country. He also added that even their electricity was solar and wind-powered. Their menus are printed on 100% recycled paper with soy ink. All very exciting.

We graciously thanked them for the experience and as we walked back into the NYC streets, Maureen and I commented on how amazing we felt.
She thought it would be a really great experiment to eat every meal there for the entire year, but unfortunately the budget will only allow me about once a week in this economy....(not that it was super expensive for the quality that we got). The bill came to $27.44 for both of us. That's $13.72 per person... AND a lot less expensive and more satisfying than some of the hyped up raw food restaurants around town. BUT my budget is $5-$7 per meal and I have to stick to it for the project's sake. Most Americans can't afford to eat out at those prices for every meal and I want to show that Organic can be affordable.

On a side note: even though I had the bread and it did cause a little swelling in my stomach, by the time I got back to my office I could feel the food moving through my system instead of just sitting in my stomach and collecting gas and giving me nausea. The allergic reaction to the gluten seems to be short-lasting.

I will let you know how the interview goes!

HAVE YOU HAD YOUR BREAK TODAY?

2010-01-16T12:20:00.010-05:00

I have NEVER been a fast food fan or foodie, but sometimes when you're on long road trips and want to save time there always seems to be a trusty Mc Donald's or Taco Bell along the way.
The chicken wrap and coffee is what I will usually order at Mc D's and the chicken quesadilla is what I will have from Taco Bell, but after watching this VIDEO a while back it made me almost want to avoid ANYTHING from a fast food restaurant. The only reason I am thinking about this right now is because I was just reminded of the gradeschool reunion I will be going to in February. I will be doing several hours of driving on the road and will have to do a lot of planning ahead of time to make sure I don't starve from lack of organic along the way.

So what do you think of the VIDEO? Makes you sort of think huh?

SURFING

2010-01-15T17:54:00.005-05:00

I can tell eating organic is going to be a daunting, social task. I have a birthday to go to tonight. I can't really eat or drink anything. Are people going to want to ask me out to engagements after this? Will they even notice if I don't eat or drink?

I decided to take my own initiative and surf the net to see what is going on in the Organic World in New York City. I ran across a REALLY cute place called Gustorganics. It is the world's very first USDA Certified Organic Bar! They also have a varied food menu.

Hmmmmm. Who do I drag to Gustorganics first? Guess it will make a good topic for tonight's party.

By the way had a wonderful meal at Organique once again of chicken with stewed veggies and brussel sprouts. Today for some reason I could taste the difference in the quality of the food. Hmmmmm(again).

Off to go see how anti-social I can be now!

BUILDING A TRIBE

2010-01-14T22:26:00.004-05:00

It's sort of funny how we as humans like to have others share our experiences. How many times have we heard someone say "this tastes horrible! Taste it"......why would you want to taste or smell something that another person finds revolting?

I was glad I had a chance to have someone else also sniff and taste my project last night. I ended my evening by grabbing a quick dinner with my friends Fiona and Jay in tow. They thought it would be a nice idea to eat organic for their dinners as well.

We all got the split pea soup. I didn't expect to hear how good the soup tasted. I'm so used to hearing how bland something is.

While we were eating I also discussed the fact that I feel sort of like an investigative reporter going behind the scenes of the organic/food industry. I'm personally at the age where I don't trust any company anymore. I have had more beauty companies change their formulas to benefit their bottom line than I can count on both my fingers and toes!

What's really our #1 problem is we think there is this imaginary consumer watch dog that is keeping us safe. We take for granted that if a company makes a claim and even builds a business around it such as organic then it's true.

The main focus of this journey is to see if eating organic and hormone free will even make any sort of difference. Both Jay and Fiona agreed that the change had to make a difference and a year would be more than enough time to tell.

I felt a little guilty not telling Organique about what I was doing so when I went to go pick up my mashed potatoes with salmon and broccoli this afternoon, I confessed to the guy at the register about what I was doing. He didn't seem to care one way or the other.
Well at least I have him fair warning. I know if someone was doing something on my business for a year I sure as heck would want to know!

p.s. Jay will probably kill me for saying this but I am proud he has lost over 80 lbs without surgery!!! by changing his meat intake and making adjustments in his diet.

Cheers to being conscious about what we eat!

Sorry if this sounds like a little food evangelism. I am strictly impartial in this project!!!!!

BON APPETIT!

2010-01-13T15:44:00.003-05:00

Today was both an exciting and bittersweet day. I am finally less groggy and have a little more energy. Not all of it, but it's better. I also had to lay off of working out for a couple of days because I was that lethargic.
I also noticed that my hands and ankles are not as swollen as they usually are. Hmmmmm. Going to have to ask them what they do with the salt in their food (if they add any at all).

So back to the sad part I just ran into one of the owners of DUCKS, a very inventive restaurant at the popular ping pong club SPIN NYC (Susan Sarandon is one of the backers). For months I have been begging them to do a gluten-free menu. I pleaded with them to switch out their bread on their sandwiches for lettuce because I couldn't eat most of what was on their menu. I had been tested to have a wheat and possibly a gluten intolerance as well.

The minute I gave up hope of them changing the menu was the minute they changed the menu for ME and every other wheat intolerant person out there! So giving up DUCKs is going to be a big sacrifice for me on this organic journey. Who knows....with the farmer's market nearby maybe they can be inspired to change.

Back to the exciting. I had a wonderful lunch from Organique of tender beef with some colorful and crunchy haricots verts. And because it is Wednesday I indulged in their free wednesday organic coffee. Organic Lunch total? $6.87!

Sorry Ducks. I'm going to have to go with my health for now!

THE FIRST FEW DAYS

2010-01-12T15:47:00.005-05:00

Four days before I started this blog I had already started to eat organically. Seeing part of Food, Inc made me want to play around with this thought a little bit. It wasn't until I saw that I could make affordable choices that I decided to go on this adventure.
I had already cut out ALL sodas and carbonated beverages almost 3 years ago (aside from the occasional soda around the holidays). I already try to stay away from most sugar except around that time of month (sugar ages you!!!!). Giving up sugar seems sort of easy since I had started an aloe juice drink last month which stabilizes the blood sugar and insulin.

Getting straight to the point I have been down right exhausted these first few days!!! Yesterday I had my aloe juice as usual for breakfast along with an organic gluten free banana chocolate granola bar. For lunch I had a thigh of chicken along with mixed veggies. By the time dinner came around I was hungry, but too tired to do the massive amounts of paperwork and research that I usually do so I went ahead and had more granola.

Today I feel the same. I had grilled salmon with kale for lunch.
It wasn't even 1pm today and I wanted to head off for a snooze.
In fact I am so tired that I want to save my energy for the rest of my business work.
I think I have at another 361 days to get acquainted with everyone anyway.

Yawn!

Oh p.s. The photo I included above is the one of my face at Day 1. I am taking photos of myself for another project so I figured this was a great way to monitor not only how I feel, but how I look!

THE PROJECT

2010-01-12T15:28:00.004-05:00

So here it goes: I, Mary Schook intend to be conscious of all of the food that goes into my mouth and the sources of where they come from. My goal is to prohibit foods that are not raised "organically" or "cruelty-free".

I will do my best to document what I experience on my journey and hopefully at the end of the year I will be able to come up with the answer to the question: "Does the source of our food affect us?"

Without the help of the farmer's market in Union Square in New York City and a very reasonably priced restaurant, Organique I'm not sure I could maintain this goal.

My spending allowance is approx $5-7.00 per meal since I am keeping a tight budget.

Well see you on the other side!

HELLO!

2010-01-12T13:59:00.006-05:00

This blog is inspired by the movie Food, Inc. Food, Inc wasn't the first time I had been introduced to the concept of what happens to our food. Back when I was a teenager I was in a Teen Modeling Association that required us to read Diet for A New America by author John Robbins. John Robbins is the son of the founder of the Baskin-Robbins ice cream empire! Later on I was introduced to THE MEATRIX (sadly hilarious), Fast Food Nation and probably the most influential film for me: The Future of Food.

As a little background I grew up as a pretty skinny kid in Kentucky except for a chub moment in 7th grade (which would still be considered skinny compared to today's youth).
My mother never let us eat any foods with chemicals or sugar unless it was our birthday or she wanted to bribe us with something. Our dad made a lot our bread with his bread machine and between the massive garden my grandparents grew and the one in our back yard we had a major portion of our veggies some fruits taken care of. The rest of our food came from Kroger or a food consignment shop called Aldi's, but those were usually our canned veggies since food actually grows seasonally. We NEVER ate fast food or ate out but maybe a couple of times a year. We just couldn't afford it.

It wasn't until I got to my second year of college (1995) and moved to Chicago that I began to pick up weight. Actually I wanted to gain weight at first but couldn't. I was trying to get bigger so I could be a plus sized model to pay for my college. Soon enough I was able to gain the weight, but one thing that I noticed is that the food that I was eating at the grocery stores just didn't taste fresh to me. I just attributed it to the fact that we didn't live on farms in the big city and that I would just have to trade in my fresh food that I was so used to. My weight wasn't the only change that I noticed. I began to get waves of depression. The school guidance counselor said that it was common in chicago because they have longer periods without sun. That made sense to me.

Eventually I got more weight on me than I wished for, but I eventually had the good fortune of shedding it when I went to go live in Italy for 2 years. I was eating Mc Donald's there which I would never touch in the states. The burgers were such a better quality of meat! The fish there was to die for. I seemed to eat more food in Italy, but was a lot hungrier. I eventually met someone who traded for McDonald's in Italy and he told me one of the differences in the meat at McD's in Italy and the US is they kill the animal in a high tech way which prohibits the hormone that toughens the meat when the animal is killed to be released. The explanation made sense to me.

So I came back to the states from Italy where I moved to NY. I had a HUGE struggle with my weight there and I HATED the produce (especially the fruit!). I also began to develop bad eating habits like eating one huge meal once a day. Even though I was boxing and eating better the longer I stayed in New York the worse I felt. Eventually I hated the food I ate in NY to the point that I just didn't care much about what I was eating until I got into a car accident and blew up 100 extra lbs overnight. Then I had to care.

I sincerely hope that all of these movies are hype. I'm not saying what happens to our food isn't happening. The question is if we are conscious about the food that we eat will it actually make a difference? Organic is such a loose term these days. Can a person really control where they get their food from?