The original article was published via OneGreenPlanet.org

From freshman fifteen to late night study sessions, college is a Mecca of poor food choices, overindulging, and eating at all hours of the day. I recently volunteered for the computer department at my alma mater for the freshman computer handout. We were stationed in the lower level of the cafeteria. I was curious, have food options progressed in over 5 years to accommodate the multitude of dietary scenarios? While there were a few options such as a gluten-free station and granary, which offers one vegan dish and vegetables, comparatively, still slim pickings.

We will now teleport over to the state of Texas, known for big hair, big cowboy hats, and big meat eaters. Yet, one university has set a standard that many should surely follow. The University of North Texas introduced an all vegan cafeteria, Mean Greens. Finally, here is a school that listened to the numerous requests of all to have more vegan and vegetarian options. The dining services of the university realized with five dining halls, that they had the option to diversify.

“We feature a mix of over 20 different entrees and sides daily along with a Vegan sushi bar, Panini Station, Pizza/Pasta station, Fresh grilled veggies, Rotisserie Corn and an assortment of Vegan Desserts,” said Ken Botts, Special Projects Manager of Dining Services. “What we have done by design is create menu options that focus on fresh whole ingredients that contain plenty of; plant protein, calcium, vitamin d, iron and vitamin b-12. You will find that a meal at Mean Greens is more nutritionally complete then the typical burger, fries and a soda type of meal.”

The changes at UNT are a true reflection of a national movement and advocacy to offer healthier foods in cafeterias. The collective feedback through their UNT Dining Services Facebook page, monthly student run food advisory committee, and student secret shoppers, supported the creation of the new dining hall. “Just want to say that I have really enjoyed the new Mean Greens. I have been a (lacto-ovo) vegetarian since 2002 and really enjoy the exclusively vegan selection at Mean Greens. I typically eat lunch at Mean Greens several times per week and really look forward to the all-vegan fare,” said Alyssa Ferrer, student.

Sustainability practices including recycling are extended throughout the dining experience. Sourcing local foods, having a tray-less cafeteria, which cuts down on pre and post-consumer waste by 40%. They have cut daily deliveries from 18 trucks every other day to one. According to the university, the ingredients are more costly but because of the increase in business from off campus visitors and increased sales of meal plans, it balances out. There is also less food waste as a result of the tray-less dining because diners only take what they can eat which results in additional savings.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 12.5 million children and teens are obese. The food lessons learned in conventional cafeterias transition over to the university level. UNT is creating a new custom that more universities and educational institutions should follow. Here is a shining example that parents, faculty/staff, and students can use to petition their own educational institutions for living in the realm of vegan food possibilities.

“The food is GREAT,” said Nicole Cocco, a UNT employee. “I couldn’t even tell nor did I care that there was no animal anything in my lunch, and the apple cobbler was TO DIE FOR. (They) did an amazing job, and I still haven’t found another college or university that has gone that extra mile.”

J. Lucas, contributing writer

A new preliminary study released by Jenny Wan-chen Lee, a graduate student in Cornell University’s Dyson School of Applied Economics and Management, illustrates the hall effect of the term organic relative to consumers and marketing.

A double-blind test was conducted by asking 144 subjects to compare their thoughts on conventional and organic products. In the study, all the organic products we actually all organic and we labels as regular or organic. They were asked to rate the products on their different attributes. Almost all of the subjects preferred the taste characteristics of the organically labels products. “The foods labeled “organic” were also perceived to be significantly lower in calories and evoked a higher price tag. In addition, foods with the “organic” label were perceived as being lower in fat and higher in fiber. Overall, organically-labeled chips and cookies were considered to be more nutritious than their “non-organic” counterparts.”¹

This is a clear lesson for consumers. A label, package, or marketing pitch dressed in organic messaging is not indicative of quality. It is imperative that we individually research all we consume, talk with out local farmers to be clear on what is used in their growing process, and take responsibility for our oversell well-being.

¹ The Health Halo Effect: Don’t Judge a Food by its Organic Label
Jenny Wan-chen Lee (Cornell University), Mitsuru Shimizu (Cornell University), and Brian Wansink (Cornell University) were coauthors on this paper.

If you have noticed a decrease in my frequency of updates posts, then you are so attentive mes amiss! I have been diligently working on launching a new site, yolisgreenlviing.com, for May 2011. The site will of course contains deals and savings, but by request, a lot more reviews, recipes, and opinion pieces. I look forward to sharing this journey with you and trust that you will enjoy the new site.

Yoli’s Note:
This story is more evidence and encouragement to make sure you read the labels of all your food and make your own from fresh ingredients. IF there is red # anything or any other color additive, you should choose not to consumer it. This is also applicable for body products or anything you apply to your skin.

Food Investigation from Natural News TV.

http://wpm.naturalnews.tv/3478.mp4

Transcript of video
Pictures of blueberries are prominently displayed on the front of many food packages. Here they are on boxes of muffins, cereals and breads. But turn the packages around, and suddenly the blueberries disappear. They’re gone, replaced in the ingredients list with sugars, oils and artificial colors derived from petrochemicals.

This bag of blueberry bagels sold at Target stores is made with blueberry bits. And while actual blueberries are found further down the ingredients list, the blueberry bits themselves don’t even contain bits of blueberries. They’re made entirely from sugar, corn cereal, modified food starch, partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, artificial flavor, cellulose gum, salt and artificial colors like Blue #2, Red #40, Green #3 and Blue #1.

What’s missing from that list? Well, blueberries.
Read more…

A Salinas, CA company is recalling fresh cilantro after Salmonella was detected during a USDA Microbiology Data Program test.

Sabor Farms said the cilantro was sold in California and “several other states” from Jan. 14-28 under the labels Nature’s Reward, Ocean Mist, Tanimura & Antle and Queen Victoria.

Consumers should note that the cilantro bunches do not contain identifying lot codes. Each bunch is sold with a distinctive, but general twist-tie for cilantro. Samples of the four relevant twist ties are pictured here.

For purposes of retailers and distributors, the packaging from which test samples were taken did have specific lot codes that allowed for product traceback to the specific farm and harvest dates (Jan. 13-14, 2011). The potentially affected products are:

– Nature’s Reward label 05013 22/ 16 10 and 05014 22/ 16 10,
– Ocean Mist label 16 cisf 1j / 2 0113 11 and 16 cisf 1j / 2 011411,
– Tanimura & Antle label 22 01 13 151348 and 22 01 14 151348 and
– Queen Victoria label 16520142 / 16 10 22 and 16520132 / 16 10 22.

Sabor Farms has contacted the four companies that received potentially affected lots of cilantro and confirmed that no product remains in their inventories.
Read more…