A highly underrated, affordable, and fat-free snack we should all be grooving on way more often?  Popcorn! From the 1890s until the Great Depression popcorn street vendors were common in towns and cities across America. Pushing their steam or gas powered popping carts through parks, fairs, parades, and public events they supplied popcorn to the gathered crowds. Their popped corn was one of few luxuries that most families could afford. Many popcorn businesses thrived during the Great Depression, while other businesses failed. Why? Economics. The vendors had little overhead, popcorn was inexpensive to make and sold for a very affordable price, creating more demand. In fact the popcorn vendors were making about 70 cents on a dollar.

Today popcorn is still one of America’s favorite, most pleasurable snack foods with Americans consuming roughly 17 billion quarts of popped popcorn each year or about 54 quarts per person. Why? It’s still economics. Popcorn is a great snack that’s not only delicious it’s a great value compared to most other snack foods today with 1/2 cup raw corn producing about 16 cups of popped corn.

Most people probably don’t know that popcorn is a 100% healthy whole grain and a quick, easy, and enjoyable way of getting whole grain benefits. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania recently reported that popcorn, like other whole grains, contains healthy antioxidants called polyphenols, “We really were surprised by the levels of polyphenols we found in popcorn. Early researchers thought that fiber was the active ingredient for the benefits of whole grain”…”But recently polyphenols emerged as potentially more important,” said Dr Joe Vinson, study leader and chemist.  And eating more whole-grain foods may help reduce body fat in older adults, says a new U.S. study.

In 2003 the FDA’s Total Diet Study listed popcorn as one of the top ten foods most contaminated with POPS (persistent organic pollutants). POPS have been found to have serious health implications even when exposure is very low. Many of these chemicals mimic human and animal hormones and are capable of crossing the placenta during pregnancy. They’ve even been linked to the declining bird population and other species of animals. Take the POPS out of your popcorn and reach for EDEN Popcorn, certified organically grown on family farms.  Don’t mess with non-organic popcorn.   According to a recent article, when Chickens refused to eat the maize they had been fed, it led to the discovery that their feed had been genetically modified to include a well-known weed and insect killer. 96 percent of soy-based foods are genetically modified, so please, always choose organic.

Caramel Corn

Have a sweet tooth?  Try this yummy, healthy snack!

Serves 8 | Prep. Time 10 minutes | Cook Time 15 minutes

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup Organic Popcorn
• 3 TBSP  Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/2 cup Organic Barley Malt Syrup
• 1/2 cup organic maple syrup
• 1/4 cup organic peanut butter
• 2 tsp  Organic Mugi Miso

Directions
Heat oil in a large pot and pop corn according to package directions. Place popped corn in a large bowl. Preheat oven to 350°. Combine the barley malt, maple syrup, peanut butter and miso in a small sauce pan. Bring to a boil over a high flame, stirring frequently. Reduce the flame to medium-low, stirring constantly for 5 to 7 minutes. Pour over the popcorn and mix thoroughly. Place the mixture on an cookie sheet (do not oil) and spread out evenly. Bake for 3 to 5 minutes. Immediately remove the caramel corn with a spatula to prevent sticking to the sheet.

* For those with allergies to peanuts, substitute almond or cashew butter; or omit.

Nutritional Info Per serving
250 Calories, 20g Fat (52% calories from fat), 4g Protein, 38g Carbohydrate, 3g Fiber, 0mg Cholesterol, 65mg Sodium

via edenfoods.com

Need a quick karma boost? Do good: Donate extra stuff you don’t need before the year ends, so you can take advantage of tax deductions come April 2010, while spreading a little New Year cheer. It’s an easy gamble. Most donations are tax deductible (and we won’t tell if you take next year’s tax refund check straight to the liquor store for a good bottle of organic champagne).  Thanks to (the now-defunct) IdealBite.com for sharing this helpful scoop.  We didn’t always see eye to eye, but we’ll miss you!

Just one of the simple ways to donate!

Clear out your closets by donating stuff you don’t need.

• Gift card balances: If they’re about to expire or you probably won’t use ‘em, donate ‘em here.
• Furs, jackets, and towels: Your local animal shelters or rescue groups will take them for use as bedding. Specifically recycle furs at coatsforcubs.org.
• Shoes: Programs like donateyouroldshoes.org will take your used ones for redistribution in the developing world, or for recycling.
• Electronics: Recycling and trade-in programs take your old gadgets, from cell phones to computers. You can donate or recycle computers here mygreenelectronics.org or here sharedtechnology.org. Cells can be donated to cellphonesforsoldiers.com for a tax write off or: rbrc.org.
• Videotapes/floppy disks: greendisk.org
• Appliances: recycle-steel.org
• Carpet: carpetrecovery.org
• Eyeglasses: Give the gift of site to donateglasses.org orneweyesfortheneedy.org.
• Cleaning and bath and body products: Shelters will often take even partially used containers.
• Books: Your local library will likely accept them. If not, donate them with your old clothes to the Salvation Army, or sell them on powells.com (they even pay for shipping!) and either use or donate the money.
• Tires: Can be recycled here: epa.gov/garbage/tires/live.htm. Autos and construction materials can be donated to most nonprofits.
• Send Half-Used Paint To:earth911.org
• Packing peanuts can be recycled here: loosefillpackaging.org
• Clothes: Drop them off at charities such as Goodwill or Dress for Success or Housing Works. Salvation Army will pick up if you have more than a few bags. Remember to ask for a tax reciept. You can donate biz clothes to dressforsuccess.org, and formaldresses to: operationfairydust.org.

Kiplingers has an in-depth list here of exactly which donations are deductible. Score a Tax Credit - looking to remodel? Green your home and get hefty tax rebates. We are sure if you are down with this crew, you know there is never a time to throw ANYTHING out. If you can’t get rid of it on www.freecycle.org.  Still unsure of where to dump your old treasures?  Ask your favorite non profit if they have use for your old printer/ bed/ couch/ car/ whatever.  Most likely, they will take it off your hands and supply you with a tax reciept to boot.  Happy endings all around!

The New York Times recently ran a piece by Natalie Angier called “Sorry Vegans, Brussels Sprouts Like to Live, Too“. It was categorized under the “Science” section, with the further distinction of “basics“. In other words, the author wants to let us know that making an ethical argument to curtail the science-fiction and horror-movie-like indignities and atrocities that animals endure in exchange for a plant-based diet is flawed because plants want to live - and duh, that’s just basic science.

“…plants no more aspire to being stir-fried in a wok than a hog aspires to being peppercorn-studded in my Christmas clay pot.”

That may be true, if it’s aspirations we’re talking about. And following this line of logic, we may as well throw in that lightning does not aspire to illuminate a bulb, a mountain does not aspire to be a car-frame, an island does not aspire to be a tourist destination, or a child does not aspire to get heart disease.

Can you imagine if Angier said “plants no more aspire to being stir-fried in a wok than a woman aspires to be raped”? It is consistent with this line of logic where no one is safe, and one wrong justifies another. When I was four, I learned that two wrongs don’t make a right. Eating plants doesn’t make eating animals okay (if eating plants were even an equal “wrong” as Angier suggests). The optimal inner-dialogue she wants us to have upon reading her article goes something like this: “well, if plants are that hell-bent on surviving, what’s the point of trying to spare animals when clearly they are just as deserving of consideration - and we have to eat something, so we may as well just eat what we want because it’s such a big gray area“.

“It’s a small daily tragedy that we animals must kill to stay alive. Plants are the ethical autotrophs here, the ones that wrest their meals from the sun. Don’t expect them to boast: they’re too busy fighting to survive.”

So let’s humor Angier, even though plants are lacking a brain, and even though we know that while someone who is brain-dead (a vegetable), though bio-chemical reactions still persist, does not respond to bodily injury that would typically cause the type of pain most animal advocates seek to alleviate. Let’s say that plants can suffer in a similar way as do people and animals. Let’s just say that ripping a carrot out of the dirt is along the lines of forcibly impregnating (raping?) dairy cows, then tearing the baby away (which is met by hours and days of a howling, distraught mother), sentencing the calf to a veal crate (where he can not even turn around or lie down) and stealing the milk for ourselves. Does the former justify the latter? I don’t want to live in Angier’s world where potentially causing pain justifies certainly causing pain. Mustn’t that also justify inflicting pain upon people? This is a messy, messy road to go down.

I wonder if Natalie Angier is aware of what farmed animals eat? I also wonder if she knows what the ratio of plant-based animal feed converted to meat and dairy is. Or how much land is used to meet the demands of producing animal products? If she did know these things, and she were a vehement “plants’ rights activist” she would still be making the most ethical choice by going vegan because the most plants would be spared, instead of being converted into animal protein and graze-land at a losing ratio.

How about some clarity? Most animal advocates are talking about actively avoiding causing incredible amounts of suffering, ecological devastation, and health and social problems in relation to using animals for food, clothing, research, and entertainment. This can result in legislation, direct action, grassroots activism, lifestyle changes, and other advocacy with the aim of alleviating preventable suffering, decreasing environmental impact, and improving health and human welfare. Natalie needs a lesson in “basics”, herself. Far from the recent, trendy food discourse she invokes exists the response to her confusion, as laid out by philosopher Jeremy Bentham in 1789. “The question is not, Can they reason? nor, Can they talk? but, Can they suffer?”

To frame the moral dilemma in “Killing animals for human food and finery” as being about aspirations is to fail in understanding the agenda of many animal activists. The intention of many vegans I know is not moral purity - yet this consistent misconception isn’t responded to as clearly by animal advocates as it should. It is more often a social justice issue involving individual animals who actively dissent by vocalizing and struggling to escape sources of pain and suffering, defending their young, mourning the death of and separation from family and friends, maintaining a preference for complex and communicative social structures, and seeking out comfort when faced with pain.

Like many critics who consider animal advocates self-righteous cow-huggers, and whose first response to finding out that someone is vegan is typically “well, what’s your belt made out of?“, the author of this article exemplifies this misconception about the purpose of veganism. Is it political? Yes. Is it about moral puritanism? Not usually. Nor is it about preventing death. Of course plants strive to live, but everything living eventually dies. It is about preventing preventable suffering. It is about not choosing the duck or the lamb because they have brains and bodies that register suffering in a way with which we can empathize.

Angier blabs, as if her audience were the confessional:

“I still eat fish and poultry, however and pour eggnog in my coffee. My dietary decisions are arbitrary and inconsistent, and when friends ask why I’m willing to try the duck but not the lamb, I don’t have a good answer.”

If the title itself didn’t make it obvious enough that the purpose of the article was to rationalize her whimsical diet and piss off vegetarians who live in the “moral penthouse”, as Angier refers to it, then the content itself does the job. Angier neither offers insight into her inability to exert self-control in face of cheese and duck, nor does her artless and callow argument to consider the will-to-live of vegetation on same playing field as the suffering endured by animals with consciousness, brains, and nervous systems have any defensible logic. It is riddled with the anthropomorphizing of plants (something of which animal advocates are commonly accused), and it is creepily reminiscent of the joke website VRMM.

“Just because we humans can’t hear them doesn’t mean plants don’t howl.”

Is it valid to point out that plants fight, cooperate, and evolve to optimize survival, like any other living organism? Sure. Plants, fungi, bacteria, and all living organisms are amazing, complex, and have spent billions of years evolving into performing delicate and not-so-delicate dances with everything around them. Whether homeostasis is the Earth’s aspiration (as proposed by James Lovelock’s Gaia Hypothesis) or the destruction of everything is the Earth’s Aspiration (as proposed by Peter Ward’s Medea Hypothesis), or if the Earth or universe even has aspirations are not the issues at hand when we talk about veganism or animal advocacy.

Angier claims “This is not meant as a trite argument“, yet her purpose in writing the article seems as trite as rationalizing her own, flimsy food choices.

Joshua Katcher is the brains and brawn behind The Discerning Brute. He lives in Brooklyn where he is a writer, artist, vegan chef, and television producer.

This torte recipe is as impressive as it is delicious. The rich almond base is the perfect complement to the delicately (not cloyingly) sweetened raspberry topping. It packs a lot of guilt-free sweetness, and it’s totally free of cholesterol, dairy, and gluten! Bake it tonight and bring it to a holiday party!

Ingredients:

1½ cups almond meal*
1/3 cup rice flour
1½  tsp. fresh lemon zest
¼ tsp. sea salt  (+ 2 pinches for topping)
1/3 cup unrefined sugar (+ 3 Tbs. for topping)
1 Tbs. cornstarch (+ ½ Tbs. for topping)
2 Tbs. soymilk
¼ cup  pure maple syrup
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
½ tsp. pure almond extract
1½ Tbs. freshly squeezed lemon juice (for topping)
1½ cups frozen raspberries (for topping)

*You can buy almond meal or make your own by pulsing whole almonds in a food processor until very crumbly (avoid overprocessing as they turn to a paste).

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, mix ½ Tbs. cornstarch and lemon juice.
2. In a small saucepan over medium heat, make the topping by combining the cornstarch/lemon mixture, raspberries, sugar, and salt; cook until mixture slowly bubbles and thickens, stirring frequently; once thickened, turn off heat.
3. In a bowl, combine almond meal, flour, lemon zest, salt, and sugar.
4. In another bowl, combine cornstarch with soymilk until smooth; add maple syrup and extracts; stir well; add wet mixture to dry and stir to combine well.
5. Lightly oil a round cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper (to prevent sticking).
6. Transfer mixture to pan and evenly distribute; pour raspberry mixture over top.
7. Bake at 350 F for 25 minutes, then transfer (still in pan) to cooling rack. Serves 6.

via meatoutmondays.org

Fiji sound like a good enough way to fight the winter cold? MTV/VH1’s Eric Nies, our favorite raw foods hottie, is now hosting fun filled eco adventure cruises and private charters in the salty South Pacific where you enjoy the sun and surf, while doing good for others.  Sound awesome?  You can enter here to win an ALL EXPENSES PAID trip to Fiji aboard the eco-friendly humanitarian ship, Tui Tai.  Named by Conde Naste’ as “One of the world’s sexiest cruises” and by National Geographic as a “World class escape,” The Tui Tai travels through the remote islands of Northern Fiji providing much needed aid such as building libraries, donating solar panels, books, clothing, water, food and medical attention.

Eric and some Fiji Friends, Photographed by Penny Dinn.

All donations made to the contest will go directly to the Tui Tai Charitable Fund and will enrich the livelihood for the people of Fiji dramatically.  While satisfying the goodness of your charitable heart (and perfecting your tan) you will also be diving and snorkeling one of the best reef systems in the world, surfing virgin waves, hiking to breathtakingly beautiful waterfalls, kayaking, paddle boarding, mountain biking, eating deliciously health conscious meals and visiting villages for local dances, all while having access to parts of Fiji that none other than the Tui Tai does.

Go to www.fijirealitycompetition.com to enter to win and/ or watch Eric’s videos (below) for more details;

Fiji Reality Competition — Hosted by Eric Nies from Tui Tai Expeditions on Vimeo.

Fiji Reality Competition — Rules and Details from Tui Tai Expeditions on Vimeo.

For specifics on the boat and the Tui Tai Charitable Fund go to www.tuitai.com To contact Eric and for inquiries on booking a private charter contact penny@tuitai.com