Caesar Salad
November, 2007
Updated April, 2010
Excerpt from "In the Kitchen With Family and Friends" by Karen Lee
“This is my “signature” dish. It’s the recipe that I’m most proud of. Jim loves this dish and Caesar salad has become a staple in our regular weekly diet. For a complete meal, we usually toss in slices of sautéed chicken breasts, spiced with jerk seasoning.
I sincerely hope you enjoy it!”
Following are ESTIMATED proportions and basic guidelines. I’m too lazy to measure when I cook, and the flavor of olive oils, vinegars, and anchovies differ with every bottle and can. Adjustments will always be required, so please use your palate to correctly adjust proportions of your ingredients, according to your personal preference. The quantities below will produce 4 to 6 small side salads or 2 large entree salads. The estimated time of preparation is about 45 minutes.
1 full-size head of romaine lettuce, not prewashed and not precut
3 large (or 6 small) cloves fresh garlic
1 ½ cups virgin olive oil
1 fresh egg
2 lemons or 3 key limes
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons wine vinegar
2 cans of flat anchovies (not with capers)
Please read special about anchovies note below*
4 oz. can grated parmesan cheese
2 oz. shredded parmesan cheese
½ teaspoon raw granulated sugar
Dash of Worcestershire sauce (opt.)
½ teaspoon of prepared mustard (opt.)
Water
2 slices of multi-grain bread
Dried thyme & basil (and any other spices that you like)
Step 1 – Prepare lettuce. This step is overlooked by most chefs, but it is VERY important for a good-tasting result.
Select a large head of romaine lettuce that looks fresh and full. Discard the ragged outer leaves. Hand rinse each leaf in cold, running water. Remove and discard the whitish-colored stalks
from the green leaves. Hand tear the leaves into large bite-sized pieces (do not use a knife), and spin the clean lettuce in a lettuce spinner or pat dry with clean towel. Put the lettuce in a bowl and squeeze the juice of one lemon (or lime) onto leaves and toss. Put the bowl uncovered in refrigerator while making dressing, or overnight (not longer). Ascetic acid in the citrus and the quick chill will make the leaves become crisp.
Step 2. Make croutons. Without fresh, homemade croutons, the rest of your Caesar salad efforts are wasted. Boxed croutons are always too hard, stale, and really boring.
Peel & chop 2 garlic cloves. In sauté pan, pour 1/8 inch olive oil. Sauté garlic until light golden brown on medium-low heat. Cut bread into ¾” cubes. Arrange bread cubes in a single layer in pan. Pan-fry cubes, flipping frequently, until croutons are brown and crisp on all sides; take care not to burn them. Sprinkle dried spices and salt liberally over croutons, sauté 2 minutes more. You can drizzle a little more olive oil on top of the croutons during while sautéing, if you like. When perfectly browned, remove the croutons from the heat; lightly sprinkle them with grated parmesan cheese. Set aside; be sure to hide your yummy croutons from crouton thieves that always appear near the stove about this time.
Step 3. Prepare dressing.
In an electric blender or food processor, blend 1 clove of garlic in ¼ cup olive oil until garlic is pureed. Add 1 can of anchovies (including oil), 1 egg, and juice of one lemon or key lime. Blend until creamy. While running the blender or processor on low speed, slowly pour in the remaining olive oil in a thin, steady stream. The sauce should thicken into a creamy texture. Add vinegars, grated parmesan cheese, sugar, worst. sauce, and mustard. Blend completely. If the dressing appears too thick, add a little bit of water to achieve desired consistency. If dressing is too tart, add more oil and/or sugar (be careful not to add too much of either). If dressing is too oily, add more vinegar.
Step 4. Toss and serve salad. (Do NOT toss salad with dressing until you are ready to serve immediately. If you toss the salad and let it sit, it will become wilted and yucky.)
In an extra large salad bowl, toss the chilled, crisp lettuce with about ½ cup of dressing, making sure each piece of lettuce becomes coated with dressing. If you like more dressing, add it carefully, tossing well with each addition. After lettuce is tossed well with dressing, add shredded parmesan cheese, toss the salad again, well. Optional – add chopped anchovies, toss again. Add croutons to top of salad. Don’t toss again. SERVE IMMEDIATELY!
Step 5. Accept compliments graciously. ☺
Note: Extra dressing lasts about 1 week in the refrigerator. Store it in a closed container or your milk will taste like anchovies!
*Special note about anchovies: You cannot make a real Caesar salad without anchovies. Even if you hate anchovies, you’ll love this dressing. (Trust me, Pam Bova.) When you purchase your anchovy cans, buy the most expensive brand that is available and be careful not to purchase cans that are bulging. When you open the cans, if the can makes a popping sound, discard that can immediately! If the can opens smoothly, that’s good!
After you’ve opened the can, take a quick sniff of the anchovies. Freshly and properly canned anchovies smell good and are very yummy, but, nothing will turn you off faster than a rotten can of anchovies. Please give them a quick sniff-test! You’ll know right away if they’re bad. It’s my opinion that most people who say they hate anchovies have eaten or smelled bad anchovies in the past. Fish canning techniques are not consistent. I have had a few bad experiences, myself, with some bulging, popping cans! Just follow the above Bulge, Pop, and Sniff tests and you’ll be fine!
Showing posts with label Recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Recipes. Show all posts
Monday, April 26, 2010
Dangers of Diet Drinks
DIET COKE = DIET POISON
November, 2007
Excerpt from "In the Kitchen with Family and Friends" by Karen Lee
Beverages and foods sweetened with the chemical ASPARTAME, aspartyl-phenylalanine-1-methyl ester, also marketed under the names Equal, Nutrasweet, and Canderel SHOULD NOT BE EATEN. Aspartame is the sweetener in Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Diet Pepsi, Diet Sprite, Diet Root Beer, many other diet drinks, sugar-free chewing gum, and … The list includes approximately 6,000 prepackaged consumer foods.
For years, we’ve heard consumer advocates raving and ranting with serious concerns about aspartame, making claims that it causes headaches, brain tumors, brain lesions, and lymphoma. Blah, blah, blah, what do they want me to do? Drink real Coke and gain more weight? I don’t think so! A little diet soda now and then can’t be all that bad, right? …Wrong!
I was convinced of the danger while I was driving home from a recent agility competition, listening to NPR on the radio. Dr. Devra Davis, the senior research scientist who runs the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute was the interviewee. Dr. Davis isn’t some wacko tree hugger (like some of us have been accused of being!); she’s a real scientist with a lengthy, reputable resume.
During the program, Dr. Davis discussed many probable causes of cancer, including excessive cell phone usage; exposure to pesticides, chemical cleaning agents, and unsafe cosmetics; and Diet Coke. She said that the reason she is particularly worried about diet drinks is because her institute research shows that aspartame probably causes slow growing BRAIN CANCER. Brain cancer can take as long as 20 to 30 years to show up; that’s why her research isn’t proven yet. Her concern is that an entire generation of diet drinkers is at risk for brain tumors that are insidiously growing now.
Even if you’re not worried about the possible link between aspartame and brain cancer, it’s an undisputed fact that when you drink diet soda, your body ingests aspartame and breaks it down into several residual chemicals, including formaldehyde, formic acid, aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol.
Alrighty, then! No more diet sodas for me! I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready to ingest formaldehyde in my body, not just yet. I’ll be drinking unsweetened iced tea, organic if possible, or good ol’ water from now on.
November, 2007
Excerpt from "In the Kitchen with Family and Friends" by Karen Lee
Beverages and foods sweetened with the chemical ASPARTAME, aspartyl-phenylalanine-1-methyl ester, also marketed under the names Equal, Nutrasweet, and Canderel SHOULD NOT BE EATEN. Aspartame is the sweetener in Diet Coke, Coke Zero, Diet Pepsi, Diet Sprite, Diet Root Beer, many other diet drinks, sugar-free chewing gum, and … The list includes approximately 6,000 prepackaged consumer foods.
For years, we’ve heard consumer advocates raving and ranting with serious concerns about aspartame, making claims that it causes headaches, brain tumors, brain lesions, and lymphoma. Blah, blah, blah, what do they want me to do? Drink real Coke and gain more weight? I don’t think so! A little diet soda now and then can’t be all that bad, right? …Wrong!
I was convinced of the danger while I was driving home from a recent agility competition, listening to NPR on the radio. Dr. Devra Davis, the senior research scientist who runs the Center for Environmental Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute was the interviewee. Dr. Davis isn’t some wacko tree hugger (like some of us have been accused of being!); she’s a real scientist with a lengthy, reputable resume.
During the program, Dr. Davis discussed many probable causes of cancer, including excessive cell phone usage; exposure to pesticides, chemical cleaning agents, and unsafe cosmetics; and Diet Coke. She said that the reason she is particularly worried about diet drinks is because her institute research shows that aspartame probably causes slow growing BRAIN CANCER. Brain cancer can take as long as 20 to 30 years to show up; that’s why her research isn’t proven yet. Her concern is that an entire generation of diet drinkers is at risk for brain tumors that are insidiously growing now.
Even if you’re not worried about the possible link between aspartame and brain cancer, it’s an undisputed fact that when you drink diet soda, your body ingests aspartame and breaks it down into several residual chemicals, including formaldehyde, formic acid, aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol.
Alrighty, then! No more diet sodas for me! I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready to ingest formaldehyde in my body, not just yet. I’ll be drinking unsweetened iced tea, organic if possible, or good ol’ water from now on.
Why I Buy Organic Food
Why I Buy Organic Foods
And Why You Should, Too!
November, 2007
Excerpt from "In the Kitchen with Family and Friends" by Karen Lee
The four main reasons why I grow, buy, cook, and eat organic foods are:
Health. Flavor. Health. and… Health.
Health and Pesticides
The first health reason that I eat organic is that USDA certified organic foods aren’t treated with artificial pesticides. Non-organic, conventionally grown fruits and vegetables are covered with pesticides, and most don’t wash off. Studies prove that chemical pollutants from pesticides are in the bloodstreams of some of us. Unfortunately, those pollutants don’t always flush out of our systems. Some of the chemicals found in blood are those that were banned more than 25 years ago!
Organophosphates are the most commonly used pesticides, and have been linked to poisonings, developmental and behavioral disorders, and motor dysfunction. This is serious stuff! I personally met a guy who told me that he had once popped a grape into his mouth while shopping at the grocery store. Within 24 hours, he was in the intensive care ward at the hospital, suffering from extreme toxemia from pesticides. Doctors told him he was lucky to be alive. He developed permanent hyper-sensitivity to pesticides and other chemicals from that unfortunate event.
Young children and babies are the most at risk due to exposure from pesticides in food. Pets can also become unhealthy from eating pesticide-laden foods. Just ask Cheepy Cheep how he feels about them! At the end of this commentary is a list of the fruits and vegetables that are grown with the most pesticides.
Organic Moo Cows
Organic milk and other dairy products are easy to find on your grocer’s shelves. It’s a no-brainer that you should buy organic dairy because non-organic cows usually have really unhealthy diets. What they eat goes into their milk, that you drink! Non-organic cows can be given grain and other feed products that are grown with pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides. Some of those chemicals bio-accumulate, which means they are absorbed into the grain, ingested by the cow, transferred to the cow’s milk, packaged in the milk carton, swallowed by the human, and retained in the human’s tissues permanently. The diet of non-organic cows can also include synthetic growth hormones and antibiotics.
Flavor
Grocery stores don’t always choose conventionally grown fruits and vegetables because of their flavor. They’re usually selected because of their appearance. Aren’t you just a little suspicious of perfect-looking fruit? Some conventional fruit displays almost look plastic to me. Colored oranges offend me the most. A perfectly-shaped, bright red apple that has a long shelf life must be more profitable for the grocery store to sell. Compared to the appearance of an organically grown, smaller, not bright red, gala apple, for instance, the conventional apple may appear more marketable.
I challenge you to a taste test! Buy a conventional ruby-red apple and an organic gala. After you WASH THE CONVENTIONAL APPLE, take a sample bite of each. You’ll be amazed at how much more delicious the organic apple tastes. This difference holds true with most fresh produce and dairy products. I LOVE the richer taste of organic milk, butter, and cream. Yum, yum, yum.
More Personal Health Concerns
Organic foods have not been genetically engineered, or irradiated. The FDA has not issued official concerns about either process which is allowed in conventional food production. Consumer advocacy groups, however, ARE concerned about the following potential health safety issues of eating GMOs (genetically modified organisms) and irradiated foods:
• Creation of new antibiotic-resistant super diseases by transference to humans from an antibiotic resistant gene inserted into most GM crops
• Increase in naturally occurring plant toxins that could happen with combination of artificially altered genes
• Decreased nutritional efficiency through altered DNA
• A new class of chemicals, cyclobutanones, formed when food is irradiated, may cause genetic and cellular damage in humans and animals
None of the above health threats is recognized (yet) by the FDA, but why take the risk? Eat organic and you and your children will be safe!
Organic Farming for a Healthier Environment
The use of chemical pesticides and synthetic fertilizers is destructive to our environment. They pollute the air we breathe and the water we drink. The fragile balance of ecosystems is permanently altered when pesticides indiscriminately kill insects, including butterflies, birds, frogs, lizards, and other wildlife. Mining, production, and use of synthetic fertilizers cause algae blooms in waterways, fish kills, and respiratory problems, just to name a few.
What you buy and what you eat not only affects your personal health, but the health of our planet.
Inconvenience of Going Organic
When I stated that I “grow, buy, cook, and eat organic foods,” I didn’t mean to imply that I ONLY eat organic, because that’s, unfortunately, almost impossible given our lifestyle. We eat out at restaurants, have dinner at friends’, and often make unwise shopping choices due to inconvenience or lack of sense. If you eat organically as often as possible, and continue to increase the percentage of your consumption of organic vs. conventional foods you are minimizing your dietary health risks.
News Flash! Eating all of the organic foods you can get your hands on will not make you healthy if you eat too much! Organic sugar is easy to find on the grocery shelves, along with organic cookies, chips, and high-calorie fruit drinks! Just because it’s “organic” doesn’t give you the green light to consume! You can still be organically unhealthy if you’re too chubby!
Cost of Going Organic
Organic products can often be more expensive than conventional foods in the grocery store, but it slays me when people choose not to spend $2 more for a gallon of organic milk, and then spend $10 or more on a bottle of wine! What sense does that make? When considering the cost of going organic, in the sagacious words of my sister Susan,
“How much is your health worth?”
It’s your choice.
And Why You Should, Too!
November, 2007
Excerpt from "In the Kitchen with Family and Friends" by Karen Lee
The four main reasons why I grow, buy, cook, and eat organic foods are:
Health. Flavor. Health. and… Health.
Health and Pesticides
The first health reason that I eat organic is that USDA certified organic foods aren’t treated with artificial pesticides. Non-organic, conventionally grown fruits and vegetables are covered with pesticides, and most don’t wash off. Studies prove that chemical pollutants from pesticides are in the bloodstreams of some of us. Unfortunately, those pollutants don’t always flush out of our systems. Some of the chemicals found in blood are those that were banned more than 25 years ago!
Organophosphates are the most commonly used pesticides, and have been linked to poisonings, developmental and behavioral disorders, and motor dysfunction. This is serious stuff! I personally met a guy who told me that he had once popped a grape into his mouth while shopping at the grocery store. Within 24 hours, he was in the intensive care ward at the hospital, suffering from extreme toxemia from pesticides. Doctors told him he was lucky to be alive. He developed permanent hyper-sensitivity to pesticides and other chemicals from that unfortunate event.
Young children and babies are the most at risk due to exposure from pesticides in food. Pets can also become unhealthy from eating pesticide-laden foods. Just ask Cheepy Cheep how he feels about them! At the end of this commentary is a list of the fruits and vegetables that are grown with the most pesticides.
Organic Moo Cows
Organic milk and other dairy products are easy to find on your grocer’s shelves. It’s a no-brainer that you should buy organic dairy because non-organic cows usually have really unhealthy diets. What they eat goes into their milk, that you drink! Non-organic cows can be given grain and other feed products that are grown with pesticides, herbicides, and fungicides. Some of those chemicals bio-accumulate, which means they are absorbed into the grain, ingested by the cow, transferred to the cow’s milk, packaged in the milk carton, swallowed by the human, and retained in the human’s tissues permanently. The diet of non-organic cows can also include synthetic growth hormones and antibiotics.
Flavor
Grocery stores don’t always choose conventionally grown fruits and vegetables because of their flavor. They’re usually selected because of their appearance. Aren’t you just a little suspicious of perfect-looking fruit? Some conventional fruit displays almost look plastic to me. Colored oranges offend me the most. A perfectly-shaped, bright red apple that has a long shelf life must be more profitable for the grocery store to sell. Compared to the appearance of an organically grown, smaller, not bright red, gala apple, for instance, the conventional apple may appear more marketable.
I challenge you to a taste test! Buy a conventional ruby-red apple and an organic gala. After you WASH THE CONVENTIONAL APPLE, take a sample bite of each. You’ll be amazed at how much more delicious the organic apple tastes. This difference holds true with most fresh produce and dairy products. I LOVE the richer taste of organic milk, butter, and cream. Yum, yum, yum.
More Personal Health Concerns
Organic foods have not been genetically engineered, or irradiated. The FDA has not issued official concerns about either process which is allowed in conventional food production. Consumer advocacy groups, however, ARE concerned about the following potential health safety issues of eating GMOs (genetically modified organisms) and irradiated foods:
• Creation of new antibiotic-resistant super diseases by transference to humans from an antibiotic resistant gene inserted into most GM crops
• Increase in naturally occurring plant toxins that could happen with combination of artificially altered genes
• Decreased nutritional efficiency through altered DNA
• A new class of chemicals, cyclobutanones, formed when food is irradiated, may cause genetic and cellular damage in humans and animals
None of the above health threats is recognized (yet) by the FDA, but why take the risk? Eat organic and you and your children will be safe!
Organic Farming for a Healthier Environment
The use of chemical pesticides and synthetic fertilizers is destructive to our environment. They pollute the air we breathe and the water we drink. The fragile balance of ecosystems is permanently altered when pesticides indiscriminately kill insects, including butterflies, birds, frogs, lizards, and other wildlife. Mining, production, and use of synthetic fertilizers cause algae blooms in waterways, fish kills, and respiratory problems, just to name a few.
What you buy and what you eat not only affects your personal health, but the health of our planet.
Inconvenience of Going Organic
When I stated that I “grow, buy, cook, and eat organic foods,” I didn’t mean to imply that I ONLY eat organic, because that’s, unfortunately, almost impossible given our lifestyle. We eat out at restaurants, have dinner at friends’, and often make unwise shopping choices due to inconvenience or lack of sense. If you eat organically as often as possible, and continue to increase the percentage of your consumption of organic vs. conventional foods you are minimizing your dietary health risks.
News Flash! Eating all of the organic foods you can get your hands on will not make you healthy if you eat too much! Organic sugar is easy to find on the grocery shelves, along with organic cookies, chips, and high-calorie fruit drinks! Just because it’s “organic” doesn’t give you the green light to consume! You can still be organically unhealthy if you’re too chubby!
Cost of Going Organic
Organic products can often be more expensive than conventional foods in the grocery store, but it slays me when people choose not to spend $2 more for a gallon of organic milk, and then spend $10 or more on a bottle of wine! What sense does that make? When considering the cost of going organic, in the sagacious words of my sister Susan,
“How much is your health worth?”
It’s your choice.
Grocery Shopping Tips
Grocery Shopping Tips
November, 2007
Excerpt from "In the Kitchen with Family and Friends" by Karen Lee
With all the mind-boggling issues about the health and safety of food, how can anyone go grocery shopping without being depressed? I follow the steps below when making my selections, and I still have a lot of fun in the grocery store!
1, USDA ORGANIC
If food has the organic certification, I consider it safe to purchase as long as it’s fresh and not full of sugar or sodium. If I have more than one organic brand to choose from, I next check the company label to see where the product came from. I buy the organic product that came from a grower or supplier closest to the grocery store where I’m shopping.
2. INGREDIENTS TO AVOID IN CONVENTIONAL FOODS
It’s very important to take a little extra time and read the labels on the food you intend to feed yourself and your family. Simply do a quick scan of the list of ingredients, and if any of the following ingredients show up, put that item back on the grocer’s shelf.
NO - MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE (MSG)
NO - ASPARTAME, EQUAL, NUTRASWEET
NO – BHA or BHT
NO - NO BY-PRODUCTS FROM MEAT OR POULTRY
NO - Margarine
I also try to avoid:
HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP
HYDROGENATED OILS
BLEACHED FLOUR (“Enriched” flour is usually bleached)
SODIUM NITRITE (cured bacon and most hot dogs)
ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, COLORS, & PRESERVATIVES
3. FRESH PRODUCE
Fresh fruits and vegetables, grown locally, in season are your best healthy choices. If you want produce that isn’t available fresh, choose canned or jarred selections before frozen. More nutrients are lost in the freezing process than in the canning process.
Grocery Shopping Tips, continued
4. EXPIRATION DATES
I always check the dates stamped on refrigerated selections. Grocery stores will place the oldest item toward the front or on the top of the stack. If an item looks a little haggard, I’ll grab a fresh one with a date farther in the future from the back of the stack. Sometimes you can safely buy a product that’s on sale because it’s approaching its expiration date. Be careful, though. Beef is usually pretty safe if it has been refrigerated continuously, but outdated poultry can make you really, really sick, even if you cook it thoroughly.
5. GO LOCAL
It doesn’t make sense to buy oranges from California when you live in Florida and it doesn’t make sense to buy cheese from Wisconsin when you live in Vermont. It makes even less sense to buy produce from Peru, Mexico, or Chile when almost every conceivable food item is grown here in the USA. We consumers contribute to global warming when we choose to buy products that are shipped thousands of miles in diesel-powered freight trucks. Read the labels! Be a smart shopper! It makes a difference!
6. BORN IN THE USA!
I don’t buy fresh produce that is grown outside of the USA, unless it is USDA certified organic (the USDA does certify many foreign products like bananas) and unless an American brand is unavailable. It’s my opinion that it is too risky to trust the agricultural practices in other countries. Our own government has a big enough challenge regulating health standards here at home. Another reason for buying American products is to help support the American farmer and our domestic economy.
November, 2007
Excerpt from "In the Kitchen with Family and Friends" by Karen Lee
With all the mind-boggling issues about the health and safety of food, how can anyone go grocery shopping without being depressed? I follow the steps below when making my selections, and I still have a lot of fun in the grocery store!
1, USDA ORGANIC
If food has the organic certification, I consider it safe to purchase as long as it’s fresh and not full of sugar or sodium. If I have more than one organic brand to choose from, I next check the company label to see where the product came from. I buy the organic product that came from a grower or supplier closest to the grocery store where I’m shopping.
2. INGREDIENTS TO AVOID IN CONVENTIONAL FOODS
It’s very important to take a little extra time and read the labels on the food you intend to feed yourself and your family. Simply do a quick scan of the list of ingredients, and if any of the following ingredients show up, put that item back on the grocer’s shelf.
NO - MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE (MSG)
NO - ASPARTAME, EQUAL, NUTRASWEET
NO – BHA or BHT
NO - NO BY-PRODUCTS FROM MEAT OR POULTRY
NO - Margarine
I also try to avoid:
HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP
HYDROGENATED OILS
BLEACHED FLOUR (“Enriched” flour is usually bleached)
SODIUM NITRITE (cured bacon and most hot dogs)
ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, COLORS, & PRESERVATIVES
3. FRESH PRODUCE
Fresh fruits and vegetables, grown locally, in season are your best healthy choices. If you want produce that isn’t available fresh, choose canned or jarred selections before frozen. More nutrients are lost in the freezing process than in the canning process.
Grocery Shopping Tips, continued
4. EXPIRATION DATES
I always check the dates stamped on refrigerated selections. Grocery stores will place the oldest item toward the front or on the top of the stack. If an item looks a little haggard, I’ll grab a fresh one with a date farther in the future from the back of the stack. Sometimes you can safely buy a product that’s on sale because it’s approaching its expiration date. Be careful, though. Beef is usually pretty safe if it has been refrigerated continuously, but outdated poultry can make you really, really sick, even if you cook it thoroughly.
5. GO LOCAL
It doesn’t make sense to buy oranges from California when you live in Florida and it doesn’t make sense to buy cheese from Wisconsin when you live in Vermont. It makes even less sense to buy produce from Peru, Mexico, or Chile when almost every conceivable food item is grown here in the USA. We consumers contribute to global warming when we choose to buy products that are shipped thousands of miles in diesel-powered freight trucks. Read the labels! Be a smart shopper! It makes a difference!
6. BORN IN THE USA!
I don’t buy fresh produce that is grown outside of the USA, unless it is USDA certified organic (the USDA does certify many foreign products like bananas) and unless an American brand is unavailable. It’s my opinion that it is too risky to trust the agricultural practices in other countries. Our own government has a big enough challenge regulating health standards here at home. Another reason for buying American products is to help support the American farmer and our domestic economy.
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