Monday is Earth Day, and we are excited to serve up our new menu HERE. Monday is also the first day of Passover--a Jewish holiday. We are offering a non-denominational Passover meal that kinda follows the traditions, except we do have a little leavened bread in there, so you can save or freeze that if your Seder follows all the rules. If your household observes Hametz, just let us know on your order, and we can hold back the challah and replace it with Matzah crackers.
We have so many different types of meals next week that you can choose from--check it out and order now HERE.
GLYSOPHATE AND PARAQUAT DYSTOPIA
In one of my previous lives, I designed and built training programs and led large teams that did the same for many corporations, NGO's & large organizations and agencies. I used to joke that I've at least reviewed content and written proposals for almost all the fortune 500 over a couple of decades. I also have an MAED (Masters in Adult Education & Training) in addition to my undergraduate law degree. I've worked on projects with teams like McDonald's, Syngenta, Tyson, Nestle, Kellog, & Safeway to name drop a few easily recognizable organizations. Please note, I worked with all different kinds of companies and government agencies--not just food & agricultural companies.
Now, I have always been uniquely interested in food--so perhaps that is how I became hyper aware of certain things when I'd be working on these projects or dealing with content and training. In this capacity, I learned many startling things, and it turned me into a bit of a research fanatic about my own food and the food I feed to my family & friends.
So you have probably heard of glysophate, or Round Up--an herbicide that has been linked to cancer. In recent years, Monsanto--the maker of glysophate--has lost some very large lawsuits, and are now working on a class-action suit to address the many thousands of pending lawsuits (like over 10,000 pending lawsuits!). The landmark case that was decided in 2019 caused a flurry of countries to ban the use of the dangerous herbicide. You can read about this and review the 28 countries that have banned it's use HERE.
Glysophate is used not just as an herbicide. In the 1990's it became widely used as a desiccant, or drying agent, on many crops such as oats and wheat. Oats, barley and wheat make up a lot of popular cereals that we feed to our children. So, a nice crop of oats is drenched in a deadly chemical to dry it out so it is easier to process. Sometimes, glysophate is sprayed on a wheat crop to "even out" or increase the yield, not just to get rid of weeds. It is these uses that has dramatically driven up the amount of these chemicals in our food chain, and subsequently, in our bodies. It is not hard to find this information, but it is not generally made available to consumers, either. It's also shockingly used on the crops that are marked "Non-GMO"--so even if you think you're getting away from it by buying "Non-GMO"--well, sadly that is a case of "green washing" in marketing. If you just do a quick search on the Internet, you can find plenty of verified information. Perhaps one day I'll get into labeling and words that are used on food products, but that's another worm hole for another day.
I don't know about you, but have you noticed how we have had such a flurry of "gluten intolerance" in the past couple of decades? And isn't it interesting that it's happening following the uptick in use of these chemicals in our farming practices? I promise I'm not going to get all QAnon on you guys and tell you follow the breadcrumbs... I will say this, wheat and oat products are something many people eat not just daily, but multiple times a day, every. single. day.
Another nasty chemical that you've probably not heard about is Paraquat. It is an extremely strong herbicide and it can kill you if you drink just a little of it. It is also directly linked to the development of Parkinson's disease. A quick search on Paraquat brings up a bunch of law firms, so you know the lawyers are onto the lawsuit bandwagon like the glysophate litigation. Sadly, the EPA once again approved the use of Paraquat as of 2024--they review approved chemicals about every 15 years or so. If you want to get nice and mad today, you can read about how Paraquat was bought by a state-owned Chinese company, and how it so heavily used here in the USA and BANNED IN CHINA (and over 68 other countries) HERE. And for a bit of hope, you can read about how California is considering banning Paraquat HERE in this article that came out last week in the LA Times. These are extremely recent articles and developments, and Paraquat has been around since the 1960's. Paraquat takes 6 years to beakdown in soil, so it's a nasty, persistent chemical. I personally like the Environmental Working Group's website because they keep up with all the latest in many of the categories that I follow, so HERE is their latest article on Paraquat and who is being sneaky and non-transparent in their uses vs. their greenwashed marketing.
THE ORGANIC GOOD NEWS
I know this information is depressing, and it seems like it may be nearly impossible to get away from it. One quick and easy thing you can do it dramatically reduce the amount of these known carcinogens is to buy and eat organic foods whenever you can, especially the ones you eat all the time, multiple times a day, like produce and bread. HERE is a recent study by the Environmental Working Group that shows a 70% reduction in the amount of measurable glysophate in a subject's urine samples within days of switching to an all-organic diet.
I've talked about this before, but both Chef Mary and I use a high percentage of organic ingredients. We know we are unique in this way, and it's one of the reasons I was drawn to working with Chef Mary (I mean, besides the fact her food is awesome!) We always list our ingredients, and we always tell you if we know for sure we are using an organic ingredient. We are conservative--meaning if we don't know for sure, we don't list it as organic. Often times an organic is used and it's not listed as organic as we'd rather be conservative than be wrong in the wrong direction.
Did you know that organics are just 2% of what the entire country buys? 2%!!! Most restaurants and food companies do NOT use organic ingredients at all. We use as many as we can because we care so deeply about great food that is a wonderful experience to eat, AND is also as good for you as it can be, AND also as good for the earth as it can be.
We know we are not "normal," but we hope that is of value to you and your family. We do many other things to extend our sustainability and decrease our carbon footprint like reusing high-quality delivery bags and reusing water bottles, and using compostable and truly recyclable containers instead of all-plastic food containers. We are here for you and for ourselves and we serve you like we would serve ourselves and our families. Please know we work hard to source sustainable and organic or "clean" products for all the reasons outlined above and more. Of course, we cannot yet get to 100% without becoming unafforable, but we are always trying. We hope this knowledge helps you and your families, too.
Happy Earth Day & SALUD,
Chef Ginny & Chef Mary
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