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When my 20-year-old son who is now a sophomore at a selective college in Maine became seriously scoping out colleges the last year and a half or so of high school, the tedious into college rankings, SAT or ACT requirements began in earnest. Upon mentioning an online Princeton Review dining rankings, a relative of ours mentioned that food shouldn’t play a factor in the selection process, however it is an all important issue that directly would affect him as it does many other vegetarians.  http://www.princetonreview.com/college-rankings.aspx?Uidbadge=%07
This issue required a considerable amount of research however for my son as well as myself as he had to focus so much time on the other details of the college search while keeping up his grades and competing on the swim team. Due to my son’s busy schedule, and my desire to play a helping role, I happily lent a helping hand into college dining options research at various select colleges.
There are valid reasons why students may not speak up in addition to time constraints.  Students may feel uneasy about speaking up to have their nutritional needs met for feel of negative or dismissive attitudes. The modern age of technology can eliminate face-to-face or voice-to-voice contact but be at least as effective. One benefit in written petitions is that  there is more time to gather one’s thoughts than in a direct meeting. Well, that’s where a student’s advocate can play a role in insuring that vegetarian students receive adequate vegetarian nutrients.

Check out PETA’s top 10 list the top 10 vegetarian colleges in the US as well as the top 5 in Canada. http://www.peta2.com/college/c-vegschools-winners.asp

Isn’t it wonderful to know how many calories are really in that dish served up at chain restaurant x in NYC?  Yes, it’s great for people to think about how many calories they’re eating.  However, I would love to see this go one step further.  Obviously, for these “chain” restaurants in NYC to include calorie contents for their menu items, they must first list and insert ingredient amounts into some calorie counting software program. 

Wouldn’t the next wonderful step be to require these establishments to also provide the list of ingredients in their menu items to be customer-accessible and located at the counter or on the table?  Imagine that!  Anyone could dine out veg*n style with far less effort than currently.  This could help those who might wish to eat veg*n food but are embarassed to make a scene in front of their family, significant other, friends, boss or co-workers.  Additionally, it would avoid those maladroit situations where the establishment’s staff isn’t really sure if an item is veg*n or not.  Instead of waiting for the sheepish response that the staff will check for you, the diner would likely already know himself or herself by reading the ingredient list! 

I applaud NYC’s efforts to mandate posting calorie contents, and believe it is just a matter of time before ingredient lists will have to be as readily available too!

What is more exciting than summertime greenery shooting up everywhere?! The versatility of greens enables the consumer to go from cold refreshing salads to deep roasted flavors or tasty quick-cooking stir-frys. The only limiting factor is the availability at your local markets and grocery stores. One of the best ways to eat greens is when they are of course, at their freshest, so check out the summer farmer stands! It’s amazing to witness the difference in size, shape, colorations, flavors, textures, density and aroma that come from this one category of vegetables, “greens.” Oftentimes, in large grocery stores, consumers will see the stripped down version of a vegetable devoid of the flavor and greenery that are so natural to the garden variety. However, local markets and stands will often have many more garden representational varieties and at least a couple options that include the accompanying greenery!

Take carrots, beets and turnips, for example. Carrot tops, while not particularly strong or desirable as a salad component, can be added to soups, stews and casseroles for additional green flavor. Beet and turnip tops can be eaten in a gentle marinate for a superb cold salad, or thrown into a sauce or stir-fry at the last minute for some healthy green flavor and oh, taste!

Some other widely available summer greens include Swiss chard, mustard greens and kale. Always look for leaves that are free from yellowing and browning, and are not wilted. Simple ways to cook these greens are in a hot pan with a small amount of oil for a quick stir-fry that not only preserves the color, but also some of the crisp texture and fresh flavor. They can also be steamed, but be more cautious when doing so, as they can be quickly over-steamed into a mushy mess! Kale and mustard greens are wonderful additions to soups, in the last few minutes, or to casseroles, when looking to add greens that hold their shape rather well. Oh, and who can forget using greens as wrappers for a multitude of different fillings! Think of lettuce wraps, replacing the lettuce with healthier greens like kale instead! Use these leaves instead of fajitas or grain-based wraps, for a healthier and fresher approach to any meal!

Because of the high tendency to regularly consume salads, and thus, traditional salad greens, this author will avoid discussing the joys of endive, radicchio, frisee, arugula, spinach, lettuce and the like. For a palate-pleasing change to the traditional romaine or leaf lettuce salad, add different greens, like, the ones mentioned above, or even some untraditional salad greens, like Napa cabbage, watercress, or bok choy. Just be aware that the flavor and bitterness of greens will vary, requiring adjustments to other flavor components, dressings and/or vinaigrettes. No doubt there will be some exciting combinations that result!

Please remember that there are some fruits and vegetables whose accompanying greenery should not be eaten, such as potatoes, rhubarb and taro. Taro leaves are poisonous when eaten raw but can be cooked to remove most of the toxins (for those with kidney and liver ailments, it is generally advised to avoid altogether). Check your local poison control center for additional information. Some accounts note that sweet pea stems are poisonous, as well as sorghum and buckwheat. The best rule of thumb is to avoid eating unless sure of safe consumption!

All in all, this writer is eager to see what turns up next time at the market for another inspirational set of meals! Happy greens eating!

Body odour of Non-vegetarians
by Maneka Gandhi

(Bihar Times) I will not sit at a table with dead bodies or people eating them. By now this is so well known that internal airlines never even ask what meal preference I have and no stranger sitting next to me orders meat . I cannot bear the smell or the look of the meat. I cannot bear the smell of the person who eats it. I am not the only one who believes that vegetarians and non vegetarians have a different smell. The smell of meat oozes through the pores and becomes a rich rancid sweat which fouls the air around it as soon as the temperature rises. I suppose people who do not eat garlic and onions feel the same way about the odour of people who do.

Do vegetarians really smell better ? News from the world of science.Anthropologists in the Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Humanities, Charles University, Czech Republic. Czech Republic decided in 2006 to study the effects of diet on body odour “ attractiveness”. More specifically, they wanted to find out if women prefer the body odour of men fed a vegetarian or a non-vegetarian diet. The result ? The researchers J Havlicek and P Lenochova found that women judged the body odour of men fed a vegetarian diet to be “significantly more attractive, more pleasant, and less intense”.

This is what their published study précis on Medline says “ Axillary body odor is individually specific and potentially a rich source of information about its producer. Odor individuality partly results from genetic individuality, but the influence of ecological factors such as eating habits are another main source of odor variability. We tested the effect of red meat consumption on body odor attractiveness. Seventeen male odor donors were on “meat” or “nonmeat” diet for 2 weeks wearing axillary pads to collect body odor during the final 24 hours of the diet. Fresh odor samples were assessed for their pleasantness, attractiveness, masculinity, and intensity by 30 women. We repeated the same procedure a month later with the same odor donors, each on the opposite diet than before. Results of repeated measures analysis of variance showed that the odor of donors when on the nonmeat diet was judged as significantly more attractive, more pleasant, and less intense. This suggests that red meat consumption has a negative impact on perceived body odor.”

After all – if you eat something that you cannot eat raw because it stinks , what do you expect the outcome to be ? While an apple of peas or grain can be directly taken off the plant and eaten , can you wring a chicken’s neck and then bite into it ? If you could then why does meat take so long to cook and so many spices and herbs to hide the taste ? Even the thickest skinned vegetables be eating after simply steaming with no seasoning – can you do the same with meat ?

You are what you eat, in more ways than one. your food affects your body greatly, from the energy you get, to your mood, to the smell your body produces. To test this concept ,eat a piece of raw garlic, wait a few hours and gauge the resulting odors emanating from inside and outside your body.

Moving on to a simple vegetarian vs. non-vegetarian example, heat up your oven to 98.6 degrees and place a tomato and piece of meat on it. Check back in a few hours to compare the rate of decay and the resulting smells. If it smells horrible in the open do you think it will smell less horrible inside your body . After all meat and blood decays very fast wherever it is.

Why does the human not eat non vegetarian animals – not because it is difficult to catch them . For centuries catching, herding and killing has been simple. It is because their meat stinks. The meat of the herbivore is, in comparison, far more edible , smellwise. Even the smell of the pig’s meat , an animal that the pork industry feeds nothing but decaying vegetable matter, tastes better. If the tiger’s meat stinks can you imagine the stench that your flesh emits ?

Informal polls and interviews generally result in the concession that when it comes to body odors, vegetarians usually win out. Across the Net there are thousands of views by people on the link between the smell of the body and food “ My friend has quite strong body odor, but after she became full vegan, the smell has got lighter. At least when I sit next to her, I feel more comfortable” “ The first time I reacted to smell was in a public bus. It was a very hot afternoon, I was in an air-con bus. A man boarded the bus and his body was full of perspiration. He stood next to my seat and raised his hand to hold the hanger of the bus. I nearly fainted from the smell of his body which smelt of mutton. As the smell was really strong, I endured it for only about 3 stops, then got off of the bus and waited for the next one.” “If one is sensitive to smell, it is really difficult for him/her to live with a non vegetarian person. One has to endure the smell from the meat during washing & cooking along with the smell on the person.” “ I’ve preferred vegetarian women for sharing very intimate relations, as their odor and taste tend to be much more appealing. ”

Last year , on the Howard Stern TV talk show, he had a guest who claimed he could always smell the difference between vegetarian women and carnivores. They brought out six or seven women and this guest proceeded to pick out the three vegetarians among them solely by “smelling them.”

The smell that a person has often affects their future. Do you think that someone with an offensive odour would not be shunned at work or even be given the job at any interview. I avoid , as most people do , people who smell strongly – and I have yet to come across a vegetarian who does that, even if they are curry eaters !

if you’re one of those that is still thinking about whether to go vegetarian … Do it because you will smell better. Do it because knowing that will boost your confidence and self-esteem. Do it for someone you love.

Originally posted at – http://bihartimes.com/newsbihar/2008/July/newsbihar08July5.html

As the spring season swings towards longer days and shorter nights, so too arrives the incoming summer weather! Summer weather means burgeoning gardens and fields, ready to deliver tasty produce for the picking! Enter veggie-licious local farmers’ market or markets!

What a wonderful way to connect with one’s community! Of course, all of the bountiful offerings will vary by climate and soil in one’s respective region of the country and world, but oh for the beauty of it all! Summer-fresh strawberries are a-plenty, perfect for snacking! Or, if one has the patience and fortitude not to eat all of these tasty treats straight-up from the market, how about a garnish in salads with a touch of one’s favorite vinaigrette, or maybe a fresh fruit salad featuring subtle yet sensational strawberries as the stars? Who could forget strawberry pies, strawberry smoothies and juices and jams!

Spring greens also appear to be abounding everywhere too. Nothing’s tastier than fresh greens! Perfect for the best salads of the year or a simple stir fry to highlight the flavors of beautiful greens. A touch of oil and a hint of garlic, onions and/or ginger, will do the trick with minimum prep time. Perhaps a gentle steaming, so that they remain crisp yet tender–and perfect for a warm salad base? Fresh greens from local farmers’ markets taste so remarkable, it’s hard to imagine having to eat non-local food.

It makes one wonder how “old” the greens in the supermarkets really are if they have to travel across the country in refrigerated trucks using diesel gas. Ok, true, many people in the United States would not have the produce they eat without trucks toting produce around, however, it’s just a point to be made that when possible, eating local is quite desirable! If not for any other reasons but to meet the people who grow the food that we consume, give back to the community and oh, of course: the flavor!

Farmers are wonderful people that are often underestimated in our society, at least monetarily speaking. Too often, people are more concerned with high volumes and blemish-free food, which comes at such a heavy price. If we all knew the true toll, which I doubt anyone could ever actually estimate, would we still wish for the same agri-industrial production? In a time when the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UN FAO) is calling for the need to increase global food production by leaps and bounds, is this merely an end of the pipe solution?

What if… people didn’t eat food that required so many resources to create in the first place? Eating lower on the food chain? What if governments didn’t stockpile food because of price concerns? What if governments worked harder to help distribute food to those in need, rather than worrying so much about the agribusiness support in political happenings? What if growing food was more about healthy eating than lining agribusiness pockets with more profits than most farmers could ever see in 100 lifetimes?

Well, this author for sure can’t really wax poetic on the what ifs for too long…

So, let us revel, respect and rejoice in the wonderful offerings of local farmers’ markets! They offer so much more than a tasty treat, they help remind the community of just that: community!

What is being offered at your farmers’ market? How often do you get to go? Are you as excited about them as I am?

Hurray for local farmers’ markets! I can’t wait to see what else keeps growing and making its way to my local venues!

Passion.

If you were looking to describe London’s newest vegan and raw food restaurant, Saf, or the Director and Executive Chef at Saf, Chad Sarno, in one word – passion – would be that word.

I sat down with Sarno just over a month after Saf (meaning ‘pure’ in Turkish) had opened its doors, a busy man, he sits down with a smile and a glass of water and within seconds he’s yawning. Apologizing, he explains that everyone is overworked; they didn’t expect to be so popular straight out of the gates. Already they’re booked out each weekend and turning people away on a regular basis.

The popularity has attracted much media attention with most reviews talking about bandwagons, buzz words and the latest fad.

‘They can’t bash the location, the restaurant or the food,’ says Sarno. ‘So they attack the veganism.’

However, he’s wary of affixing a label to his restaurant because he says by calling Saf vegan, (raw-food, green …) he’s welcoming the next review to focus solely on one of his servers wearing leather shoes and ignoring the food completely. He says it’s a bonus if the people wanting to work with him are vegan as it shows their commitment, but he’s not going to turn away talented people just because their personal ethos differs from his own.

Ask Chad Sarno what Saf’s all about and he’ll tell you it’s all about health. Sarno saw it as his challenge to create a menu, made from organic, locally sourced ingredients, that tasted good for meat lover and the meat aversive alike. All the while escaping the feeling that something was missing. Something like unnecessary fats and oils, processed foods or animal products that people have learned to associate with a complete meal.

‘Just because it’s vegan,’ he says. ‘Doesn’t mean it’s healthy.’

Sarno explained that with the rise in obesity, heart disease and diabetes he wanted there to be a place people could go to experience what good, simple, wholesome food could taste like. It doesn’t have to be bland and boring to be healthy. And having been vegan himself for the past 13-years, Sarno saw a diet free from animal products to be one of the leading components to a healthy diet and lifestyle.

The media’s focus on Saf being part of a growing trend, a fad, they’re overlooking the fact that Saf London has been in the works for over two years. In that time Sarno, and his partners at Turkish based Life Co, have worked to get everything just right. Sourcing non-toxic paint for the walls, finding paintings produced on recycled canvas, ordering recycled floorboards, low flush toilets, energy efficient fridges and non-toxic dishwashing liquid.

That’s before we even get to the food. Almost everything, from the macadamia cheese to the mushroom and truffle croquette is made in house with fresh, seasonal ingredients. Having developed relationships at local farmer’s markets and with neighbourhood providers, those few things that are made out of house are made fresh within the same neighbourhood as Saf’s Shoreditch location. The bread, ravioli, tofu and dumpling skins were the few items that Sarno couldn’t put his stamp on. They have also gathered into their wine cellar a selection of over 100 organic wines.

Going into the menu details would be misleading, as the menu is set to change fortnightly, to keep pace with the changing seasons, to keep the Saf experience dynamic and, I think, to feed Sarno’s passion for developing new, healthy, spectacular dishes.

And to top it off, while they were perfecting their London location, Sarno and company opened 4 other Saf locations, three in Istanbul and one in Munich. And the opening of Saf London is just the beginning, Sarno says. With plans to open a health food store at the Shoreditch locations, as well as opening additional restaurants in different London neighbourhoods are all in the works.

But for now, he’s just working on keeping pace with running a popular, top restaurant in London.