Wednesday, May 26, 2010

::something tasty::something healthy::


College life: pizza, beer, coffee, snack foods, and the dependency on the microwave. Looking for food that is healthier instead of being loaded with calories, sugar, and fat? Springing into looking fit for summer? Instead of going to regular grocery stores and stocking up on conventional food and products, why not try a local food co-op? Its organic and locally produced foods are a good place to start when looking for something nutritious and tasty.

Most people have misconceptions and stereotypes about organic foods and products. Too expensive, not worth the money, and not having any benefits are just some of the misconceptions that people have about organic foods and products.

While prices of organic and locally produced foods tend to be a little more expensive, only usually a dollar more than conventional type foods, the benefits and quality of organic food outweigh the price difference. The difference in price is because of a greater labor input, organic food is limited compared to demand, and crops are relatively small. Environmental enrichment and protection, high standards for animal welfare, and avoidance of health risks due to pesticides also contribute to the higher price for organic foods.

Many people do not know the benefits of organic and locally produced food that a local food co-op offers. Growing organically allows local farmers to decrease the dependency on nonrenewable resources, conserve energy, improve biodiversity, and help minimize the greenhouse effect and global warming.

“Health, social, and environmental benefits are some benefits to buying organic foods,” said Carol Spurling, Moscow Food Co-op’s outreach and ownership coordinator. “Pesticides and herbicides are poisons; their use destroys the viability of the soil, they cause cancer, they cause other health and environmental problems such as global warming. If all agriculture worldwide became diversified organic agriculture instead of monocultural industrial agriculture, it would greatly reduce global warming and provide and a decrease in unemployment. Rural communities would be revitalized all over the world, small scale farming would become a viable way to make a living, and farmers' dependence on expensive toxic chemicals completely eliminated.”

A local food co-op offers many organic and locally produced products as well as community events and programs that people can utilize. Many of the services provide students with the ability to eat healthier and consume produce that has more nutritional benefits and a higher quality. Organic foods might be slightly more expensive but the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.

“Every dollar we spend is a vote for the kind of world we want to live in,” said
Carol Spurling. “We eat three times a day at least so the food choices we make can really add up to significant change. I'm not saying that chain grocery stores are bad. I think that Co-ops are an alternative kind of business - democratically organized and locally-owned - that can reflect your values. Shopping for organic and sustainably-grown food at a Co-op is a way of being an activist for environmental and social justice every day. Not everybody has the means to buy only organic foods but if you start changing over one particular item that you consume often, such as milk, yogurt, eggs, apples, or even ramen noodles or coffee, to organic, that is a great start. Sometimes it won't even hurt your pocketbook at all.”

When comparing chicken nuggets that were organically made to regular conventional chicken nuggets; the organic product is healthier. The conventional chicken nuggets contain 320 calories, 20 grams of fat, 60mg of cholesterol, and 15 grams of carbohydrates. The organically made chicken nuggets contain 180 calories, 10 grams of fat, zero cholesterol, and five grams of carbohydrates. Comparing both of these products, the organic chicken nuggets have cut half the amount of calories, fat, and carbohydrates that the conventional chicken nuggets contain. Although chicken nuggets are not the healthiest pick when choosing a healthy alternative, purchasing an organic product is healthier and nutritionally beneficial.

Changing from conventional to organically made products just one product at a time, can help maintain a healthy and beneficial way of life. So instead of going to your regular grocery store, stop by a local food co-op and see what healthy benefits they have to offer you.


For more information about local food co-ops in your area please go to http://www.localharvest.org/ or http://www.coopdirectory.org/

Friday, May 14, 2010

::Curves Ahead!::


The fashion industry has undoubtedly been criticized for using super thin models for a number of years, but recently there has been a shift to curvier and healthier models. A majority of runway shows use super skinny models creating a misrepresentation of what women are supposed to look like and what they should aspire to be. Even as a young teen or adolescent, societies pushing needs to be skinny are very apparent and even warp their perceptions of being beautiful. Although the majority of models who are thin infest the runway shows, high status designers such as Marc Jacobs and Louis Vuitton are using curvier and healthier looking woman (http://nymag.com/daily/fashion/2010/03/curvy_adult_diverse_models_wal.html).

When a person thinks about the fashion industry in society today, pictures of skeleton, skinny models come to mind. What is wrong with a curvy, healthy woman? Why do most models in the fashion industry not represent the average woman and make clothes to fit every body? These are just some questions that women face today. The average woman is not super thin and does not look unhealthy, but instead most are curvy and very healthy. Only representing the skinny world in the fashion industry causes women to see themselves in a negative light if they do not fit the stereotype of the pictures they see in magazines and the models on the runways.

Another issue about super thin models is the influence it has on young teenagers. Young female teenagers are constantly surrounded with media concentrating on the idea of “if you want to be beautiful, you have to look like a super skinny model.” These teens are subjected to expectations that cannot exist creating a yearning for perfection, when it cannot be achieved. These young female teens need to be subjected to values that expose inner beauty and the idea that every race, body shape, and personality is valued and is seen as beautiful.(http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-09-25-thin-models_x.htm)

Although this issue had been slow to fix, many popular fashion designers are shifting toward the curvier, healthier model. In a recent fashion show in Paris this year, fashion designer, Louis Vuitton, used models of all sizes and ethnicities. Hopefully in the future designers will follow suit and represent all shapes and sizes that its public can identify with. We need to push for a healthy and true representation of the women in our society and value everyone's individuality to make the fashion industry understand that everyone is not super thin and everyone cannot fit into a size zero. Not only will it share values of all different kinds of beauty, it will show women everywhere that they can be happy and beautiful in their own skin.