Red Rabbit Blog
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Watercress, Chard, and Fennel are All....
Arugula, collard greens, endive, escarole, kale, lettuce, mustard greens, radicchio, spinach, swiss chard, turnip greens, watercress, beet greens, fennel. What do all of these items have in common? They are all leafy greens! May is a great month to talk about “leafy greens” as May is National Salad Month!Continuing last month’s discussion of high fructose corn syrup (HFCS) and limiting our consumption of added sugars, this is the perfect thing to ADD TO our diets. Add more whole foods/vegetables and reduce space and need for the unhealthy ones! Most of us know that we should be eating 3-5 servings of vegetables each day—so why not try the most nutrient dense foods available... leafy greens? Dark leafy greens in particular are some of the most concentrated sources of nutrition of any food.
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Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, May 19th-Let's Go!
This week, we felt you might enjoy hearing about how a famous celebrity chef, restaurateur, author and TV personality, Jamie Oliver, is aligned with the Red Rabbit philosophy of food and nutrition. As excerpted from the Digital Journal, the well-known Brit has launched a food revolution, bringing healthier eating to homes, schools and communities in the U.S.A and U.K. In an effort to get people to eat healthy, sustainable foods, Jamie Oliver has come up with Food Revolution Day (May 19th) , “a global day of action for people to think about where their food comes from and get back into their kitchens.” -
When Sweet is Just TOO Sweet…
High-fructose corn syrup (HFCS), sometimes called corn sugar (this is actually just a marketing ploy by the HFCS manufacturers to trick people), has become a popular ingredient in sodas, fruit-flavored drinks, baked and packaged goods. Given how ubiquitous HFCS is, some people are concerned about possible adverse health effects. I'm sure you have already read and heard about the problems associated with sugar or HFCS sweetened products. The excess empty calories, blood sugar spike and resulting insulin surge this creates in your body may not only promote fat gain, but may also stimulate your appetite, further increasing your chances for developing chronic diseases.For years, researchers have linked a higher risk of Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, gout and weight gain to increased sugar consumption. Ironically, much of the addition of added sugar in the food and beverages we consume can be linked back to the non-fat diet craze of the 1990’s. Manufacturers took out the fat, but had to replace the taste, and did so by adding sweeteners. Subsequently, the rates of obesity and chronic-related disease have INCREASED.
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Did you know 23% of NYC trash is recyclable...
In our recent post on sustainability, we promised you more information on recycling
and composting in New York City. Here it is! As citizens of this great city, it is our duty to make sure that we contribute to the sustainability of our way of life, and this means learning to view our waste as a resource. -
How will you celebrate Earth Day?
When we think about relationships that we create and cultivate throughout our lives, what comes to mind? Those with our loved ones—our friends, family and even ourselves. Another important relationship that we all have that may not have initially come to mind is our relationship with the Earth!With Earth Day on 4/22, there is no better time to honor this relationship.
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We Have Only 1 Mother....Earth
At Red Rabbit, we are dedicated to creating and serving delicious, nutritious and
environmentally conscious meals. We choose to work with farmers that share our dedication to the health and wellness of the people we serve and the planet we share. By choosing farmers that employ sustainable practices, we are casting a vote in favor of healthy bodies, healthy minds and healthy ecosystems.Just as Red Rabbit has accepted the responsibility of providing kids with healthy food from sustainable sources, each of us can accept the responsibility of informing ourselves about how our daily choices impact our environment, both directly and indirectly.
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Pink Slime...where's the beef?!
Have you heard the term "pink slime" in the press lately? It's getting a lot of attention-from the USDA, to the beef industry to schools providing meals to children. We want to feature this topic in this week's blog to highlight our educational mission. We are committed to helping our Red Rabbit followers and school partners gain a better understanding of where our food comes from, and how to make informed choices about the foods we buy and consume, both as a company and as individuals. In this case, both sides of the issue are passionate and adamant about their positions...but, we'll let you decide...
The additive, known in the industry as "lean finely textured beef", is made from scraps remaining after cattle are butchered into cuts such as steaks and roasts. Processors remove the fat from trimmings and as some of these scraps are very close to the bone, organs or other "non-commercially viable parts", they are often treated with ammonium hydroxide (a.k.a., ammonia) to remove the possibility of bacteria, E Coli, salmonella, etc. The product is then mixed with ground beef, making it leaner, according to the industry, but making it more toxic according to others.
Here's the good news: Red Rabbit does not and will not use beef/meat products that use this filler. We source our meat as carefully as we do everything else from our farmers, suppliers and artisans-through a judicious review of their practices, processes and commitment to providing best available ingredients and products. You can feel confident that when you, your students or children order a Red Rabbit meal, you are getting the best ingredients available.
Cargill Inc. has estimated about 850 million pounds of the additive are used in ground beef annually-meaning processors will have to secure other cuts of meat to replace the filler. That is equivalent to 1.5 million head of cattle a year. It is estimated that 70% of ground beef products sold in supermarkets have some form of this product in it and according to the USDA, manufacturers of ground beef can use up to 15% of this filler in a "ground beef product" without specific labeling. We find it problematic that the consumer has no visibility into the existence of this filler, so how can we expect to make informed purchasing decisions? No wonder consumers are up in arms.
The product has been used for nearly two decades and the U.S. Department of Agriculture says it is safe. Consumer advocates reacted adversely when celebrity chef Jamie Oliver detailed its production on a show broadcast on ABC and revived its "pink slime" nickname. The broadcast went viral in social media outlets, resulting in grocery stores and food distributors saying they wouldn't continue selling the product. Click here to see Jaime Oliver’s Food Revolution: Pink Slime-70% of Beef Treated with Ammonia.
Warning about this video: It is really not pleasant to watch. The backlash prompted the USDA to tell school districts they could opt out of using beef with such fillings if they so choose in their USDA-monitored school lunch programs and many have stopped...it makes me wonder, as the President of a food services organization, how they started to begin with? Who is vetting ingredients, suppliers and products?
An online petition drive based in Houston has gathered more than 250,000 signatures asking that the product be pulled from retail outlets and school lunch programs. Products that contain the pink slime include fresh retail ground beef, low-fat hot dogs, lunch meats, beef sticks, pepperoni, frozen entrees, meatballs and canned foods.
If you are interested in knowing more about the foods you eat, consider bringing a Red Rabbit gardening or cooking lab to your school, or participating in a Red Rabbit Saturday program with your children (ages 8 and up). Contact education@myredrabbit.com for more information.Stay well and enjoy the Spring!
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Local produce is more nutritious, better tasting and often less expensive....
Signs of spring are all around New York. As flowers and trees bloom and winter clothing is stored away until next year, spring is also the time when New Yorkers enjoy spring produce popping up at farmer’s markets. At Red Rabbit, we are busy planning our spring menus. As always, our focus is on eating fresh and local fruits and vegetables, with a special emphasis on seasonal produce.
We take pride in the fact that we get our produce from locally sourced farms. We purchase produce from two local farms: Corbin Hill and Winter Sun Farms. We are happy to be providing our school partners and Red Rabbit kids with the freshest ingredients as well as supporting our regional farmers. Here is some information about both: -
How to Feed Your Kids to become Hi Performing Kids
Red Rabbit in MyBlog on Mar 19, 2012
Tagged in: Red Rabbit, perservatives, Notes from the Patch, New York, More Energy, Local, hi-performing kids, healthy habit, healthy eating, healthy breakfast, Healthy, Harlem, food additives, better concentration, artificial dyes, artificial colors
At Red Rabbit, we are advocates for whole foods rather than processed foods, especially for our kids. We feel strongly that food that comes directly from the farm, prepared with as few processes as possible and ends on the table are better for our bodies, but why?In an effort to accommodate population growth as well as leverage modern manufacturing technology, much of the foods Americans used to grow and eat have been replaced by packaged and processed foods found in stores. Food manufacturing companies spend millions of dollars marketing to us to try and win our wallets and our taste buds. Though these processed foods last longer and taste sweeter, what are the unintended consequences to our health and wellness?
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What we do—or DON'T do—will affect our kids’ health....
Red Rabbit in MyBlog on Mar 12, 2012
Tagged in: USDA, The Patellet Fund, standardized tests, school food system, refined foods, Red Rabbit, obesity epidemic, nutritional education, Notes from the Patch, New York, Local, hyperactivity, Healthy, Harlem, Food Fight, food additives, DC Central kitchen, City Fresh Foods, Children's Aid Society, better concentration, artificial dyes, artificial colors, ADHA in kidsIt's time to start talking about solutions, not only the problems. I believe we can have an impact on the issues facing our society regarding healthy food in schools and the obesity epidemic if we focus on both ends of the spectrum—the bottom-up local grass roots level and the top down regulatory and government level.
From the top:We live in a country where USDA nutrition standards consider (using onl
y a few examples here) pizza and French fries as vegetables—which means they can be served to our school-aged children every day of the week. If that is the standard that we set; if the bar is set at that low a level, then kids are far from safe. No one can re-invent the system overnight, but parents and educators need to step up and say, “this is not helping our children and it must change.”
