Dan's Plan

When I was in high school I worked at a local mom-and-pop pizzeria in which both mom and pop were from Italy. One of the many things that I learned from that experience was that the (high) gluten content of the flour was important for developing the elasticity of the dough and the great texture of the pizza crust. Since that time, my own pizza dough recipe has included bread flour (which is higher in gluten than all-purpose or cake flour) with additional gluten added to the mix. To the surprise of some dinner guests, this will actually result in a homemade pizza dough that can be (and is) tossed by hand. The results are wonderful, but are they good for you?

One of the main reasons that different flavors of the paleo diet advise against consuming grains is due to gluten and gliadin. Gluten is difficult for the body to digest, and for people with celiac disease, gluten can cause serious medical problems. Independent of the growing popularity of paleo-style diets, however, it seems to me that “gluten-free” is in and of itself becoming a growing trend. This perception was validated by a recent article in The New York Times Magazine titled, “Should we all go gluten free?”

The article highlights a large epidemiological study that Dr. Alessio Fasano conducted out of the University of Maryland (link to the full text here). In that study, more than 13,000 people were screened for antibodies such as antibodies to gliadin. Those who tested positive underwent further screening to determine whether or not they had celiac disease. What did they find? One out of 133 people had celiac disease. Moreover, if you had a first-degree relative with celiac disease, the odds of you having celiac disease were as high as 1 in 22. According to Fasano, “the history of celiac disease as a public health problem in the United States started in 2003” and he estimates that 18 million Americans have some degree of gluten sensitivity.

So, it does appear that gluten-free products (and unfortunately, gluten sensitivities) are becoming more common. According to the NYT Magazine article, a recent Nielsen report on consumer trends showed that the volume of gluten-free products sold in the past year is up 37 percent and Spins, a market-research-and-consulting firm for the natural-products industry, says the gluten-free market is a $6.3 billion industry and growing, up 33 percent since 2009.

So, perhaps we can expect to not only see more gluten-free products, but also better quality gluten-free products in the near future. Do you have any gluten-free mixes or recipes that you love?

Have a great weekend!

Today is “Cyber Monday,” which, according to Wikipedia, is a term that was invented by Shop.org in 2005 after data showed that 78% of online retailers reported a significant increase in sales on the Monday after Thanksgiving in 2004. Since then, online sales on Cyber Monday have grown from $610 million in 2006 to $1,028 million in 2010. As also evidenced by the growing junk mail folder of my email account, Cyber Monday is a big deal for retailers.

Cyber Monday has also gained attention from employers whose employees might be shopping today instead of doing company work. According to Wikipedia, as of November 2011 7% of human resource managers surveyed have fired an employee for holiday shopping online. However, shopping at work isn’t the only reason for forgetting about Cyber Monday and doing any holiday shopping right in your own neighborhood.

Why should I buy local goods?

Buying local might not always be reasonable or feasible. I am not going to find local pineapple in Indiana and you’re not going to find local Italian leather goods unless you live in Italy. However, many goods can be found locally and there are good reasons to do so.

1. You stimulate your local economy. There is much unrest right now about the shape of the economy and the number of people who are unemployed. By buying from local businesses, you help your neighbors keep their jobs, which also helps keep money in the community (especially if they patronize other local businesses). Local businesses also help foster community engagement and support through sponsoring youth sports teams, hosting meetings and events for clubs and organizations, and providing space for neighbors to meet, interact, and share ideas.

2. You get what you actually want and not what someone else wants you to buy. Although a greater variety of goods might be found online than in your immediate neighborhood, visiting local shops and businesses allows you to find unique items. Small businesses can select products based on the needs of their local customers and not a national sales or marketing plan. You might also get better customer service from someone who lives in the community and who better understands the goods and the customers with whom they interact.

3. You do good for the environment. Although buying online saves you a trip to the store, items purchased online might have to be shipped (and possibly returned) over long distances. Buying locally saves gas and pollution, especially if you can walk or bicycle between several stores. Locally owned businesses also often make local purchases themselves.

So today, especially if you find yourself at work, skip the Cyber Monday deals and instead find some time (lunch break, after work) to walk around a local downtown area nearby. Walk into a few shops that you have not been to before. You might find a few new treasures in your neighborhood.

It’s the week of Thanksgiving and I have turkey on the brain. Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays where we stay home and host an open-door, all-day gathering of friends and family. We are expecting to have 18 people for dinner thus far and I will be smoking out two turkeys and two ducks.

For the past several years that we’ve lived in Indiana, I have always bought my turkeys through a local co-op grocery store and from a local farm. Some years I’ve bought heritage breed birds and other years just local, free-ranging birds. Nonetheless, I seem to always have to remind myself why I pay 3-4 times more for these birds as compared to the ones that I see on sale at the local supermarket. Coincidentally, there was a story in our local Sunday paper this weekend that very clearly reminded me why we support our local farmers.

Last week, Sparboe Farms received a Warning Letter from FDA. Sparboe Farms is reported to produce approximately 300 million eggs per year and is a major supplier of eggs to McDonalds, Target, and Walmart (until a few weeks ago). In addition to the Warning Letter, a group called Mercy for Animals released an undercover video showing a number of scenes of animal cruelty occurring within Sparboe’s factory farms (warning: if you’re not used to seeing the beaks of baby chicks being burned off, you might find the video at the link above a bit graphic). The response from Sparboe can be found here and states, “These images depict activity completely at odds with our animal welfare policies and do not represent our company or the high standards that have always been a hallmark of our operations.” We beg to differ.

First, there are at least three general problems with Sparboe’s practices. I am willing to bet that you care about at least one of these issues.

1. Animal welfare. The undercover video and media reports highlight the abuses that occur in factory farms like Sparboe’s. Disgusting and crowded living conditions, inhumane practices, and lack of respect for another animal’s welfare characterize these situations.

2. Food safety. The FDA Warning Letter cites Sparboe for several serious violations of the prevention of Salmonella in its facilities. The letter also mentions several instances of “unacceptable rodent activity within a poultry house” and failure to achieve satisfactory rodent control. Ditto for flies.

3. Environmental stewardship. In addition to the mentions of the presence of salmonella in Sparboe poultry houses in Minnesota and the possible cross-contamination of facilities, factory farms such as these produce tremendous amounts of waste that must be composted, detoxified, or shipped elsewhere.

So, when Sparboe states that these images are at odds with their animal welfare policies, we are calling shenanigans. For example, point #4 on Sparboe’s Animal Code of Conduct states that their hens should have the “freedom to express normal behavior,” which is completely at odds with the methods and procedures of factory farming. Perhaps the folks at Sparboe are not very familiar with “normal” chicken behavior outside of the factory farm. For illustrative purposes, let’s contrast Sparboe’s practices with another model of farming.

There is a farm about 20 miles away from us called The Wayne-Egenolf Farm (WE Farm). WE Farm practices a pasture-based, closed-loop style of raising animals. This means that there are very few inputs and waste products associated with raising these birds (and other animals) because the birds follow the farm’s cows and eat grubs and parasites from the cow manure (check out the link above for more detail). The benefits of this method of raising birds are at least three-fold: the birds require less feed because they are feeding naturally off of the land; the birds sanitize the pasture and distribute the manure, thereby converting a potential waste product into useful fertilizer for the pasture; and out on the pasture the birds are actually engaging in normal bird behavior.

Factory farming makes difficult, and in some cases is simply incompatible with, the promotion of animal welfare, safe food, and environmentally sustainable practices (not to mention delicious food). As a result, we buy our meat from WE Farm and we pay more for our Thanksgiving Day birds because we care about these issues. After all, what better time is there to make a decision that expresses gratitude and honors the life of the animal on your table than on Thanksgiving Day?