5 Interesting Websites with Tools for Better Health

I stumbled across these 5 websites the other day & thought it might be worth sharing. I've listed the website and article name as well as my brief synopsis & link to the article. Any interesting articles can be submitted to cornucopiaefds@gmail.com 

With the BuyCott app, a product's history is at your fingertips.
Find out about the quality of ingredients, where the ingredients come from,
research associated with the product and the company producing it
- just by scanning the barcode or searching by name. 

Favorite Tools: Great New App to Help With Making Healthy Choices

Nota Bene: I apologize for the lapse in articles these past two weeks as I have not written as many I would've liked. Sometimes it takes me longer to write these when I'm feeling under the weather, so stick with me- Thanks for your patience!

I stumbled across this app for my iPhone & was pleasantly surprised at how helpful it was in educating people about healthy food choices. With food manufacturers using tricky language & inventing new names on a daily basis (all with the FDA's & USDA's support, mind you), it can be more than baffling attempting to decipher packaging on foods. Many people see the words 'all natural', 'healthy choice', 'reduced'-this-and-that, etc. & think that they are making wise & thoughtful choices in regards to their health when in fact it is just not that simple.

Fooducate is not just for the iPhone, but for Android & online use as well. It works by scanning a barcode or searching for a product, the user is instantly able to see information about the product (good & bad) whether its present on the label or not. This information is gathered by requesting it from the manufacturers & also gathered research by the creators of the program (with the help of the users too!).

My New Article on MindBodyGreen about Food Energetics

I'm so excited to write about the posting of an article that I wrote for a site called MindBodyGreen. If you haven't heard of this site then you really need to check it out. The articles posted on this fabulous site are interesting & informative so last week I decided to submit one for the first time. I had been thinking about it for a while, but there were so many ideas floating around in my head, I had trouble narrowing it down.

When I wrote my last article about yin & yang in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) & how essential this concept is to food energetics, I realized I needed to discuss more fully what role food energetics play in TCM & how whole foods are can be used as medicine to help heal your body or maintain vitality.The article is entitled "Food Energetics: Traditional Chinese Medicines Best Kept Secret" & really discusses energetics in general & how it pertains to our bodies.

Let me know what you think & anything you'd like to know more about food energetics or TCM as I try to figure out what next to write about! If you enjoyed the article or found it interesting, please pass it along via stumble, twitter, facebook, & email. Thanks!

Favorite Blog Posts: Excerpt of "Hungry Planet: What the World Eats" by Peter Menzel

I stumbled upon this website blog which posted pictures from a book of photographs CHRONICLING lifestyles & dietary habits of people around the world. I found it fascinating to see the types of foods being eaten by families. The excerpts compare not only foods bought each week but also how much money these families spend. Each family is photographed in their homes; for one family of nine that means a one room hut & another family of six a tent in a refugee camp. 

This post will really put things into perspective- not only for your country, homes, & food but also the amazing opportunities & things available to us living in more affluent countries. This is a chance to make sure we do not take for granted what blessings we have & also to take the chance to help others less fortunate. Make sure to send this photo diary to others & SPREAD AWARENESS!

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MON MAY 26, 2008 AT 07:24 AM PDT

Global Food Disparity: A Photo Diary

byAsinus Asinum FricatFollow

In an increasingly globalized world, it’s still sometimes shocking to see just how disparate our lives are compared with other human beings around the world. A book of photographs by Peter Menzel called "Hungry Planet: What the World Eats" ("©Peter Menzelwww.menzelphoto.com. Ten Speed Press, published in 2005) makes a relevant point with great irony: at a time when hundreds of millions of people don't have enough to eat, hundreds of millions more are eating too much and are overweight or obese. In observing what six billion eat for dinner the authors note,

"Today, more people are overweight than underweight."  

It is these cultural differences, emphasized and reinforced by the author, which exemplifies the lifestyles and dietary habits of people around the world. In the United States, processed foods are par for course. In the Philippines, fresh fruit and vegetables play a far more significant role. In the  harsh Chad sun, a family of six exists on a measly $1.23 per week.

You can buy the book here.


You may have seen some of these photographs from the book as it been widely circulating on the net, if not, I urge you to purchase it and as one of my friends said via email: "I don't know about you, but I'm counting my blessings." Traveling to 24 countries, from Greenland, Chad, and Japan to Germany, Guatemala, and the United States, Peter Menzel and Faith D'Aluisio photographed 30 families accompanied by a careful display of a week's worth of food. Chronicling the enormous differences in eating habits between industrial and developing countries, each section includes a family portrait, along with their groceries, and a listing of how much was spent in each food group. In the tradition of MATERIAL WORLD, this timely, fascinating photography book illustrates not only the growth of fast food consumption worldwide, but also the transformation of diets across the planet. One notes that except where poverty is the most extreme, packaged cookies and candies have gripped the world as have soft drinks, primarily coca-colas. I found it both encouraging that there is so much local food culture left in the world, and deeply depressing that our processed food culture has spread so far and wide. If you look closely at the types of food being purchased you can see the difference between "eating to live" and "living to eat."

Meet the The Manzo family of Sicily. Their weekly expenditure is 214.36 Euros or $260.11. Note the copious amount of bread. 

Germany: The Melander family of Bargteheide 
Food expenditure for one week: 375.39 Euros or $500.07. 

The Importance of Yin & Yang in Traditional Chinese Medicine

The article I originally intended to write when I sat down at my computer was going to be entitled "The important role of the seasons in Traditional Chinese Medicine". But I soon realized that I had yet to fully address the cornerstone of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) & before one could discuss the important role of the seasons in food energetics, one must first have an adequate understanding of yin & yang. So it looks like the 'seasons' will have to wait to be my next article.

Most concepts of TCM are new to Westerners, but many have at least heard the words 'yin & yang' and have seen the tai chi symbol that represents this foundational concept of Chinese medicine.The tai chi symbol (pronounced like the words "tie chee") represents the ancient Chinese understanding of how the universe operates. The outer circle represents 'everything', while the dark & white shapes within the circle represent the interaction of two energies, called 'yin' (dark) & 'yang' (white). These two energies cannot exist without the other & cause everything to happen in the universe.

The tai chi symbol represents yin & yang, but more importantly our universe. The white shape must be on top & the black shape must be on bottom for the symbol to be correct; a symbol with the colors inverted is an incorrect representation. 

The concept of yin & yang is still used today & in many forms. Modern day physics uses this concept in much of the same way the Chinese did thousands of years ago when the idea was first invented. Physicists describe energy that is stored or inactive as potential energy, while this passive energy would be considered yin in TCM; energy that is being released is described by scientists as kinetic energy or would be considered yang in TCM. As you can see, there are many similarities in the way Easterners & Westerners describe the interactions in our world.

Favorite Books: Vegetarian Meals for People on the Go

For those that want to learn more about incorporating vegetables & whole grains into your diet,  I have a wonderful book that serves as an excellent introduction to vegetarianism. I highly recommend this book, not just for those who are vegetarians, but for people who want to learn how to cook new dishes & become inspired to create their own new recipes. Vegetarian Meals for People-on-the-Go, 101 Quick & Easy Recipes by Vimala Rodgers is probably one of my most reached for cookbooks. In fact I use this book as a reference as well. Not only does Ms. Rodgers give step by step instructions, tips, & nutritional information, but she demonstrates how to change up the recipes according to your own tastes. Most of the book serves like guidelines, allowing the reader to interchange ingredients & really teaching the tools to personalize the recipes as well as learning how to create your own. 

Inspiration of the Day

I had heard of Rudolf Steiner before, but was not familiar with his works until doing a little research this morning. I thought he was interesting enough to share with everyone, especially because he has an interesting outlook & approach to the world around us. We get so busy & wrapped up in our daily routine that we often forget to think of things outside us, let alone contemplate or feel connected to it. He has a very unique approach to food energetics & gardening as well. I will definitely chew on some of Steiner's ideas as I work towards building & finishing my spring garden! 

Links at the bottom of the page- comments & ideas welcome!

No man will be satisfied for any length of time with a nourishment that tastes & smells of nothing, regardless of how rich it is in proteins, vitamins, & trace elements.

Rudolf Steiner

Pink Slime...

   I had heard of the controversial meat additive that is referred of as 'pink slime' long before the media frenzy these past few weeks & the long over due public outcry calling for the manufacturers to stop adding it to our meats. As I was watching the news last night, there was a short story about the pink slime additive that caught my attention. So when I heard on the news that Texas governor, Rick Perry visited & toured a Nebraska meat plant that is responsible for making the pink slime, I was rather shocked. Perry along with 2 other governors toured the facilities to support the company & their pink slime product. Governors of Texas, Kansas, & Iowa, three of the top 10 beef producing states in the nation- #1 spot going to Texas, stated that beef containing the additive was "leaner" & therefore healthier. The governors ended their press conference by eating hamburgers made from Beef Products, Inc. or BPI's  beef.

A Beef Products Inc. processing plant in South Sioux City, Neb.
The company injects fatty beef trimmings with ammonia to remove E. coli and salmonella.

   This controversial product has been called "safe" by the company who makes it, Beef Products, Inc. & the USDA has agreed with them. For decades, 'lean beef trimmings' or its informal name pink slime, has been used as a processing agent to kill bacteria in meats. The ammonia solution first came about in order to use other parts of the cow that otherwise could not be eaten by people.These fatty trimmings & connective tissues harbor significant bacterial growth & so where used in things like pet food rather than meat for human consumption. By soaking these trimmings & riding them of deadly bacteria like E coli, meat factories were then able to produce more meat, more cheaply which ultimately leads to more money!

West vs. East: How Foods are Viewed

  In the West, foods are described in terms of how much protein, fat, calories, vitamins & minerals it contains. The emphasis is placed on the chemical composition of a food to determine whether it is beneficial & nutritious. 

  In the East, foods are described by qualities such as temperature, flavor, & action. TCM determines the unique energy & characteristic properties of each food such as hot/cold, salty/sweet/bitter flavors, & how foods act on & move throughout our body. All foods have a distinct energy & characteristic properties that either help to balance our bodies & make us healthy, or to create imbalances which ultimately result in sickness.