Can Factory Farming Cause Food Allergies, Asthma, Headaches and More?

I recently read a book called Eating Animals by Jonathan Safran Foer.  I already knew what goes on in factory farming from reports I have seen on the evening news, videos put out by various "animals' rights" organizations, and the movie Food, Inc., however, this book went into a lot more depth than anything I had previously been exposed to.  It was a very difficult book to read, but as a "nutrition professional," something I felt I needed to do. 

I know a lot of people may not be that concerned about animals' rights, but everyone ought to be concerned about "human rights" and what eating factory farmed meat can do to your health.   I really appreciated the extensive list of references in the "Notes" section of this book because it allows the reader to go and verify the information he writes about.  

For example, according to an article published by the National Ag Safety Database: "Farmers have an increased prevalence of many acute and chronic health conditions including cardiovascular and respiratory disease, arthritis, skin cancer, hearing loss, and amputations."  This article goes on to say that research is lacking in a lot of areas regarding agriculture and human health, particularly in its present state.  However, there is quite a bit of research regarding respiratory diseases from exposures to organic dusts such as grain processing and Confined Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs, also known as "factory farms").  For both swine and poultry CAFOs, there is mounting evidence that endotoxins found in organic dust cause many respiratory diseases in farm workers.

There are many potential pollutants associated with conventional agricultural production, such as fine particulates from diesel engines, pesticides, hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, nitrogen oxides from fertilized fields and internal combustion engines, methane from dairy cows, and other volatile organic compounds from animal manure.  People living in the surrounding areas can have their health affected by these pollutants. 

The Pew Commission on Industrial Farm Animal Production (IFAP) has put together a report called Putting Meat on The Table: Industrial Farm Animal Production in America that details how the current system evolved and its impact on public health, environmental risks, animal welfare, rural America, and gives recommendations for a more sustainable system with fewer negative consequences.  One of the first negative examples given is regarding animal waste; it is usually left untreated (or minimally treated) or sprayed on fields as fertilizer.  Animal wastes contain many pathogens and chemicals, which can potentially contaminate the surrounding air, water, and soil.  In 2006, the CDC determined that an E. Coli outbreak in which 200 people were sickened and three people died was likely caused by animal runoff from an IFAP.

The Pew report goes on to summarize public health concerns related to IFAP as: higher risks of pathogens passing from animals to humans, the emergence of antibiotic-resistant microbes (due primarily to the widespread use of antibiotics and anti-microbials in animals), food-borne illness, worker health concerns, and "dispersed impacts on the adjacent community at large."  These "dispersed impacts" fall into two main categories: 1) respiratory symptoms, disease, and impaired function (such as asthma), and 2) neurobehavioral symptoms and impaired function (such as depression, anger, confusion, fatigue, and impaired balance, memory, and intellectual function).  I encourage you to go to their website and read either the Executive summary or download the report in its entirety. 

Mistreating animals meant for human consumption through the use of factory farms (by confining them to tight quarters, preventing them from practicing their "normal" behaviors, feeding them an un-natural diet, etc.) is ultimately causing preventable health problems in the people who are working with them, eating them, and living near them. 

I know, that is a lot of bad news!  So what can we do?  Plenty!  First of all, as consumers we can "vote with our dollars," meaning we can purchase foods produced by farmers/ranchers who use sustainable methods.  Check out this "Eat well guide" to find restaurants, farms, bakeries, etc. that use sustainably produced products in your area.

We can also advocate for better environmental and animal welfare regulations of farms.  Most importantly, educate yourself.  Sustainable Table is a great website with a lot of information on food production.  Learn where your food comes from and what goes into producing it.  Any business person will tell you consumer demand is what drives the markets; let's demand sustainably produced food!  

Increase Physical Fitness and Follow a Plant-based Diet to Lower Your Cancer Risk

You may recall from my previous blog that I recently attended the American College of Sports Medicine’s Health Fitness Summit here in Austin, TX about a week ago.  I was able to attend many useful sessions on nutrition and fitness, including one on how to lower cancer risk through physical activity and diet.  Because April is Cancer Awareness Month, I’d like to highlight some of the recommendations from that session.

This workshop gave us 10 recommendations for lowering your overall Cancer risk.  These recommendations come from the second World Cancer Research Fund (WCRF)/American Institute for Cancer Research (AICR) Expert report Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity, and the Prevention of Cancer: a Global Perspective.  You can access the complete report here.

Eight of the recommendations are for everyone and the last two are for special populations (women who are breast feeding and cancer survivors).  Listed below are the recommendations:

1. “Be as lean as possible within the normal range of body weight.” “Normal range” refers to ranges defined by national governments or the World Health Organization.  For example, using BMI the lowest “normal” BMI is 19, which is calculated by dividing your weight in kg by your height in meters squared.
   
   
2. “Be physically active as part of everyday life.”  This is defined as at least 30 minutes daily of moderate activity, which is equated to brisk walking.  For people who are already fit, 60 minutes daily of moderate activity or 30 minutes daily of vigorous activity is recommended.
    
3. “Limit consumption of energy-dense foods.  Avoid sugary drinks.”  Energy-dense foods are defined as foods that have 225-275 calories per 100 grams.  This recommendation also refers specifically to “processed foods,” not naturally energy-dense foods such as nuts/seeds. 
   
4. “Eat mostly foods of plant origin.”  This is specifically referring to getting a majority of your calories from fruits and non-starchy vegetables, although starchy vegetables, whole grains, nuts, and seeds are also recommended.
   
5. “Limit intake of red meat and avoid processed meat.” Red meat is defined as beef, pork, lamb, and goat from domesticated animals including that contained in processed foods.  No more than 18 ounces per week is what is recommended.  “Processed meat” is defined as meat preserved by smoking, curing or salting, or addition of chemical preservatives, and the recommendation is ideally to avoid completely. 
   
6. “Limit alcoholic drinks.”  This means two drinks per day for men and one drink per day for women (which takes into account the possible cardio protective benefits of alcohol). 
   
7. “Limit consumption of salt.  Avoid moldy cereals (grains) or pulses (legumes).”  Aim for less than 2.4 grams of sodium daily.
   
8. “Aim to meet nutritional needs through diet alone.”  For most people, supplements are not recommended specifically for cancer prevention. 
   
9. First special population recommendation: “Mothers to breastfeed.”  Children should be breast fed for six months. 
   
10. Second special population recommendation: “Cancer Survivors: Follow the recommendations for cancer prevention.” 

If you visit the website and download “Chapter 12” (which gives details on the recommendations), you will see a chart that shows different types of cancer and diet and lifestyle factors and their effect on lowering or increasing the risk of developing those specific types of cancer.  Of all the items listed, alcohol and body fatness had the biggest impacts on increasing cancer risks.  Alcohol can increase the risk of developing 5 different types of cancer, and excess body fat can increase the risk of developing 6 different types of cancer. 

Physical activity and consuming fruits and non-starchy vegetables had the most impact on decreasing risk of developing cancer (3, 4, and 3 different types of cancers, respectively). 

So make sure you follow these recommendations! 

Farm Fresh Eggs, from “City” Chickens!

This past week was super busy for me; the last half of the week I attended my first “American College of Sports Medicine Health & Fitness Summit” (which means VERY long days), including the first part of Saturday, followed by a farm tour of Springdale Farm (located in the actual CITY of Austin), followed by 6 hours of Krav Maga Self Defense training. 

I have so many things to share, it was hard for me to decide what to blog about this week, so I may end up posting two!  We’ll start today with my tour of the Springdale Farm.  This is another local farm that is actually located in the City of Austin, practically downtown!  Paula and Glenn Foore are the wife and husband duo that run this farm, along with volunteers and employees from their landscaping business.

The Farm is 5 acres, and is primarily a vegetable farm, but they also have chickens (and therefore fresh eggs).  They have just acquired “runner ducks” and will soon have duck eggs as well.

They use sustainable, organic farming methods, and are in the middle of applying for “official” USDA Organic status.  One of the things they do is plant flowers in the vegetable garden areas to help increase pollination, as well as spare the food crops from some bugs (some flowers are known to “repel” certain types of insects).

You may recall in my previous blog post I wrote about Stryk Dairy how excited I was to have a local dairy source.  Well, I am now equally excited to have a local chicken egg source!  There are several different types of chickens at Springdale Farm; I asked Farmer Paula and she rattled off the names (there were too many for me to remember, and I didn’t have a pen & paper handy, sorry!) and described how the eggs look different from each.

I found it quite funny that Paula and Glenn both mentioned that on the farm, the animals have multiple jobs.  The chickens not only provide eggs, but also manure for fertilizer, as well as entertainment!  Farmer Glenn specifically said the chickens are very good stress relievers; they are always happy to see him and never talk back!  The hope for the runner ducks is that they will eat bugs in the garden (since they are not fond of vegetables; the chickens will eat the vegetables if left to roam in the garden areas!), as well as supply eggs.  It was good to hear how much Paula and Glenn care about their animals. 

They are a small CSA, and also have a small “farm stand” on site Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.  This is a time when anyone can stop buy and purchase fresh eggs and vegetables.  Right now they are growing broccoli, leaf lettuce, head lettuce, cauliflower, cabbage, Swiss chard, beets, spinach, collard greens, arugula, turnips, carrots, cilantro, basil, chives, chamomile, fennel, parsley, marjoram, thyme, dill, scallions, garlic, shallots, onions, Brussel sprouts, rutabaga, mustard green, Chinese cabbage, Napa cabbage, lavender, oregano, turnips, parsnips, and more.  I was able to take home half a dozen fresh eggs, spinach, scallions, leeks, some herbs and a little lavender plant as part of my “tour.” I must say, everything tasted wonderful!  Yesterday I made spinach omelets with jalapeño cheddar cheese and scallions and they turned out super yummy (everything but the salt and pepper was from local farms!). 

If I haven’t convinced you already, I HIGHLY encourage you to become a member of a local CSA or shop at your local farmer’s market.  You can’t beat the quality! 

Touring a Local Dairy Farm

Many of you know that I am a lacto-ovo vegetarian, meaning I eat dairy products and eggs, but do not eat any meat.  I was never a big dairy fan as a kid, but would use milk for cereal.  I acquired a taste for cheese as a teenager, for yogurt as a young adult, and still use milk primarily for cereal or in cooking.  Even though I now like a lot of dairy products, I have toyed with the idea of becoming vegan primarily for ethical reasons.  Ever since I saw the movie Food, Inc., I have been on a mission to learn as much as I can about where my food comes from, and buy only from sources that I trust.   

This past Saturday I had the privilege of touring Stryk Jersey Farm, which is a family-run dairy farm just outside of Schulenberg, TX (about 82 miles southeast of Austin).  Once again Slow Food Austin organized this tour. The Stryk Jersey Farm currently has between 50 and 100 Jersey dairy cows.  They sell raw milk, butter, cottage cheese, and cheddar cheese.

 

We started our tour just outside the “cheese house,” where Farmer Bob gave us a little of the history of the farm.  This farm was his parents’, and he was born and raised here.  His parents were commercial dairy farmers back when families ran all commercial dairy farms.

Bob went off to college with the intention of eventually taking over the family farm.  When he graduated and was ready to take over the farm, things had changed.  Farmers were being told, “Get big or get out.”  So, Bob tried to get big, but found the industry was not what he bargained for.  Now severely in debt, he and his wife sold most of their cows and decided to “get jobs in town.”  They still hung onto their land and a few animals while deciding what to do.  After some time, they found out from a friend and fellow farmer that it is legal in Texas to sell raw milk, and there was a demand for it, but it could not be sold in stores (therefore no commercial farmers would get into it).  After some research, inspections, and applying for the necessary permits and licenses, they became dairy farmers once again, now selling raw milk and cheese products. 

After a little more information on the milking and cheese making process, we were free to “make ourselves at home” and wander around the farm, which is exactly what I did.  I was able to meet some “baby cows” as well as the herd.

 

In order to be able to produce milk, the cows are artificially inseminated to have 1 cow a year.  The babies are bottle fed with their mother’s milk rather than allowed to feed off of their mothers in order to prevent any types of infection or contamination of the milk supply.  Once the babies have gotten all of their vaccinations and can safely be around the other cows, they are allowed into the pasture with the herd.

The cows spend most of their time outside grazing.  About half of them are on the “wet pasture” (meaning they are currently producing milk) and half are on the “dry pasture” (meaning they are recovering, which is for a minimum of 2 months, but usually closer to 4 months).  The milk-producing cows are milked twice a day in “the milking room,” and each session takes about 10 minutes.  This room holds about 12 cows at a time (I regret I didn’t take a picture of it!).  The cows are not milked by hand; after farmer Bob washes them up, they are hooked up to a machine that does the milking.  The cows actually enjoy being milked because they are able to eat a tasty treat during the process!  It is some sort of alfalfa pellet that they really enjoy.  I guess they like having something other than clover and grass to eat on occasion!

Even though both of my parents spent time on farms (my Dad grew up on a farm and was a member of Future Farmers of America – FFA), I did not spend a lot of time out on my Grandparents’ farm, and never had “fresh” milk or cheese.  All of the dairy I used came from the store and was pasteurized!  During this tour, we were going to have the opportunity to sample raw milk and cheese.  I have to admit, I was a little nervous about sampling these products.  In our culture, everything is so “sanitized” that many of us think “raw” products could potentially be dangerous.

Properly handled raw milk from healthy cows does not pose any risk to consumers drinking it.  In fact, some people believe it is actually much healthier for you as it contains beneficial bacteria (similar to yogurt).  In addition, because the cows are allowed to be outside and graze on their “natural” diet, they rarely get sick, which means they do not need to be “fed” antibiotics the way traditional dairy cows are.  If a cow does get sick and has to have antibiotics, that cow’s milk is kept out of the dairy supply.  Plus, in order to sell raw milk, they are inspected almost daily by the Texas Health Department to ensure all the cows are healthy and free from harmful bacteria (which is much more frequent than commercial dairies). 

I am so glad I tasted not only the cheese, but the milk as well.  That was the best tasting milk I have ever had in my life!  I could easily drink that milk as a beverage and not just have it on cereal or use to cook with.  If you are anywhere near the area, I highly encourage you to look them up and tour their farm.  Unless I am able to find another dairy farm that is even closer and treats its herd just as well, I believe Stryk Jersey Farm will be the primary supplier of dairy products in the Marquette household for as long as we continue to eat dairy. 

Health Care Reform Starts With You

I recently attended the Texas Dietetic Association’s (TDA) Food and Nutrition Conference & Exhibition (FNCE).  This year it was held in Dallas.  There were several excellent workshops and presentations, as well as culinary demonstrations and vendor expos.  One of the most engaging presentations was our opening session. Some of you may be familiar with the speaker we had, Dr. Michael Roizen.  He is a good friend of Mehmet Oz (also known as Oprah’s doctor, who now has his own TV show).  Dr. Roizen is also the medical director of the Cleveland Clinic’s wellness program.

The title of Dr. Roizen’s presentation was “YOU and Your Genes: How Lifestyle and Foods Change Everything.”  During Dr. Roizen’s talk, he showed a clip of one of Dr. Oz’s shows where they put a meat-eating Cowboy named Rocco on a vegan diet for 28 days due to his extremely blocked arteries (over 95%), and diabetes.  His results were amazing.  In those 28 days, he lost 6 inches from his waist, dropped his fasting blood sugar from 179 to 99, and raised his healthy HDL cholesterol from 33 to 45.  Those are extremely dramatic results in just 4 weeks.



Now as a dietitian, I am well aware of the fact that food can have the effects seen in Rocco.  What I didn’t realize was how dramatically food can effect all of our genes.  Dr. Roizen also had lots of data regarding how diet can effectively turn “on” and “off” certain types of genes.  One very telling slide he showed was regarding prostate cancer.  He showed a slide of men who ate a typical American diet, and how many of their “cancer” genes were turned on, while the genes that kill these cancer causers were turned off.  When these men changed their diet to avoid what Dr. Roizen refers to as the top 5 worst foods (saturated fat, trans fat, simple sugars, syrup, and refined grains), they were able to turn off the cancer causing genes and turn on the cancer-killing genes.  Absolutely amazing data!  This means that we do not have to be a victim of our “genes,” we absolutely have control over preventing the vast majority of chronic diseases (including type 2 diabetes). 

One disheartening piece of data he showed was that if you “indulge” in one of these top 5 “bad” foods, it can take between 7 and 21 days to recover.  That speaks volumes of how important it is to eat a healthy diet consistently, and avoiding those “cheat” days.  I know for me personally, I rarely eat “junk” food, and when on occasion I do, pay dearly for it!  My stomach will ache, sometimes eczema on my hands will flair up, I may get a headache. . . in short, I just plain feel lousy!  Then I ask myself, “Was it really worth it?”  For me, there is not any food worth feeling bad for! 

Some other interesting data Dr. Roizen showed was comparisons of Americans and Europeans.  I was not going to mention this, but with all the recent Health-care Reform hoopla, I saw a person holding a sign that said: “We don’t want to be Europeans.”  Well, Europeans have lower rates of virtually every type of chronic disease than Americans (by half or more).  Hmm. . . maybe those Europeans know a thing or two more than we do!  They are definitely much healthier than we are as a country.  Could it be that they exercise more?  Could it be that they eat less?  Could it be that they eat healthier?  Who knows, but one thing is for sure, we as a society need to start making healthier choices ourselves or we are headed for a lower quality of life, as well as a lower lifespan due to physical pain (e.g. joint pain) from being obese, diabetes, heart disease, various types of cancer, etc.

Dr. Roizen has authored several books, including the newly revised “YOU On a Diet,” and works with several registered dietitians in his clinic.  He, along with Dr. Oz and several of their colleagues, will be holding a health symposium called “Food for your Whole Life” this June in New York, NY.  One day is geared toward the general public, while another day is geared toward healthcare professionals.  For more information, visit the symposium website. 

Touring a Local Organic Farm

This past weekend I had the pleasure of attending a tour of Johnson's Backyard Garden (JBG), the largest local CSA (community supported agriculture) farm in the area.  The tour was organized by Slow Food Austin, a local member organization of Slow Food USA.  "Slow Food Austin supports activities and education to preserve biodiversity in the food supply, spread the education of taste and connect producers of excellent foods with the co-producers (consumers) through events and initiatives."

You may recall that I have blogged about CSAs before.  Getting to see a local CSA up close and personal was great!  Farmer Brenton Johnson is fabulous!  Before the tour he told us about his background and how he came to be an organic vegetable farmer.  When he was about to graduate from college, he told us he began to think people had a tendency to constantly strive for increasing their standard of living WAY beyond what was necessary and sustainable (he was studying mechanical engineering at Purdue at the time.  For those of you who don't know, I was a mechanical engineer before I became a dietitian, so my ears really perked up when I heard that!).  I cannot do justice to exactly how he worded it, but the gist of what he said is that he thought if animals had to work for their food and shelter, we should too, rather than relying so much on devices that make our lives overly convenient.  I've never heard anyone speak about truly being a good steward of our natural resources in such a way. He said that when he spoke to his professors about it and they thought he was crazy!  Then they suggested he go talk to the Agricultural Engineering group, which he did and ultimately got his degree from that college. 

Fast forward several years to where he is at today: vegetable farmer.  JBG is an organic, sustainable vegetable farm.  I never realized how complicated farming is; he is definitely putting his degree to good use.  Brenton and his staff look at all aspects of their operation in order to keep it as sustainable as possible.  They analyze each chain of events to determine what will be the best overall course of action to minimize their inputs.  For example, he described for us how traditional farmers will use plastics and drip irrigation.  A lot of people think that is a great idea because it limits evaporative water loss that you would get from using elevated sprinklers.  However, the plastic has to be replaced after virtually every crop is harvested, which means a lot of plastic going into landfills.  He and his staff believe overall it is a better use of our natural resources to avoid using the plastic liners by using sprinklers.  True, the sprinklers do cause some evaporative water loss, but his are still 80% efficient and they avoid filling up landfills with plastics. 
                               
I could go on and on about the details of what it takes to run their farm, but I would need to write a book!  I think if more people realized exactly how much work goes into producing sustainable, organic foods, and the care that these farmers put into producing their crops, they may be more willing to pay a little extra.  At the end of the tour, we were treated to 6 different heirloom tomato plants and two other plants (I choose heirloom eggplant!).  I was also one of the lucky people to get a sample of carrots to take home fresh from the ground!

If you live in the ATX, I highly encourage you to attend the next tour of another local CSA that happens to be right in the City at Springdale Farm on April 10.  There will also be a tour of a dairy in nearby Schulenberg, TX on March 27.  If you do not live in Texas, please check out Slow Food USA for a local chapter for more information and farm tours in your area.

March is National Nutrition Month®

It's almost officially springtime, so of course there are lots of things going on.  If you were reading my blog around this time last year, you already know that March is National Nutrition Month®!  According to the American Dietetic Association (ADA) "National Nutrition Month® [NNM] is a nutrition education and information campaign sponsored annually by the American Dietetic Association." The main purpose of this campaign is to bring attention to the importance of making healthy, informed food choices and developing good eating habits.  NNM is also used to bring awareness of and promote the ADA and its members to the public and the media as the most valuable and credible source of timely, scientifically based food and nutrition information. 

You may remember (again from my blog last year!) that March also highlights "Registered Dietitian Day."  This year, Wednesday March 10th has been designated Registered Dietitian Day.  Per the ADA: "Registered Dietitian Day commemorates the dedication of RDs as advocates for advancing the nutritional status of Americans and people around the world."  To read more about credentialing and what RDs do, you can refer to my blog last spring.

As a registered dietitian and current member of the ADA, of course I want to help spread the word!  This year's theme is "Nutrition From the Ground Up," meaning focus on the basics.  Eat healthy by emphasizing fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean sources of proteins, and healthy fats.  I know, that sounds like an old message, but it still holds true. 

Try to get a variety of colors from your fruits and vegetables to ensure that you are getting not only different vitamins and minerals, but also a lot of phytonutrients that have additional health benefits.  Try to get locally grown produce; it will taste better and retain more of its nutrients since it has not been sitting on a shelf for an extended period of time.  I am a HUGE fan of CSAs (community supported agriculture) and farmer's markets.  Not only is the produce more fresh, it tastes better too! 

Whole grains are really high in fiber, and are a good source of complex carbohydrates, which are an excellent fuel source.  Why do we always push fiber?  It helps keep you full longer (so helps with weight management), keeps you "regular" which can help lower colon cancer risk, helps stabilize blood sugar, and helps lower cholesterol.  Pretty good reasons! 

We all need protein to help build muscle, make hormones, etc., but "lean" sources are emphasized to minimize fat, particularly saturated fat.  This is important again for weight management, but also to lower the risk of increasing "bad" LDL cholesterol. 

And of course we still need "healthy fats" that have a variety of uses in the body, including lowering our risk of heart disease, providing some insulation and cushioning of our joints, keeping us full, etc.  

For more information, visit eatright.org.