I was at a party the other night and got into a discussion with a bakery owner about how some of the best organic products that I have reviewed on livingmaxwell are from Italy.

Italian Volcano orange juice, Bionaturae fruit spread and Middle Earth Organics pasta sauce were a few organic brands that immediately came to mind.

What is it about food from Italy that makes it taste so good?

I believe it is the soil quality.

Unlike in the U.S., their land has not been ravaged by long-term, toxic pesticide use.

This means that Italy has been able to maintain rich, healthy, and biodiverse soil.  As a result, the country grows fantastic tasting and nutritious food. Read more »

Yesterday, I was on the media conference call for Just Label It, the nationwide campaign to get genetically-modified foods (GMOs) labeled.

On the call we saw a preview of the fantastic new Just Label It video (WATCH BELOW) and we also heard from:

* Gary Hirshberg, Chairman of Stonyfield, who recently resigned as CEO to dedicate more time to this very important cause.

* Robyn O’Brien, leading food safety advocate and author of the acclaimed book The Unhealthy Truth: One Mother’s Shocking Investigation into the Dangers of America’s Food Supply — and What Every Family Can Do to Protect Itself.

* Robert Kenner, writer, director and producer of the documentary Food, Inc. and the Just Label It video below.

KEY HIGHLIGHTS DISCUSSED

– The general benchmark for labeling, of any sorts, is materiality. Is something about the food materially different that would warrant a label? Read more »

THIS POST HAS BEEN UPDATED AS OF 1/3/2014

Does our government have any interest in putting the health of its citizens ahead of corporate profits of the chemical industry?

Based on recent news, it doesn’t appear that this is the case.

The USDA is poised to approve Dow Chemical’s genetically-modified corn that is resistant to 2,4-D, a primary ingredient in Agent Orange.

In case you’re not familiar with Agent Orange, it was the code name for one of the chemicals used in Vietnam as part of a broad herbicidal warfare program.

Vietnam estimates 400,000 people were killed or maimed, and 500,000 children were born with birth defects as a result of this lethal strategy.

But it wasn’t just the Vietnamese who suffered greatly. U.S. soldiers came back from the war and realized that exposure to Agent Orange had greatly impacted them as well. Read more »

Recently, I received a copy of Martin Lindstrom’s Brandwashed: Tricks Companies Use to Manipulate Our Minds and Persuade Us to Buy.

The reason that I wanted to read it was because Whole Foods was discussed in the book and I was curious to know what he had to say about the company.

As Martin Lindstrom correctly points out, Whole Foods is very strategic in how it merchandises its products. A few examples that he mentioned were:

– Putting flowers by the entrance. These are called “symbolics”,  and they evoke freshness and “prime” us as we begin our shopping.

– All of the signs in the produce and fruit section are written on black slate with chalk, a tradition of European marketplaces. Apparently, marketers refers to this tactic as “farmgate”, so that consumers think a farmer just drove up and dropped off the vegetables. Read more »

A few months ago I reported on a study that Dr. Oz did where he found excessive levels of arsenic in non-organic apple juice.

Needless to say, it got a lot of national media attention, and much of it was not positive.

In fact, ABC News’ Health and Medical Editor Dr. Richard Besser, a former classmate of Dr. Oz, called his report “fearmongering”.

This is nothing but standard operating procedure for organizations that make money from Big Ag and major consumer packaged goods companies (ABC sells A LOT of advertising to them).

Well, Consumer Reports just came out with their own report about arsenic in apple juice (PDF) and what did they find? Read more »

One of the reasons that many of us purchase organic is because we don’t want to put food into our bodies that contains synthetic chemicals.

Yet even though we may not eat conventionally-grown food ourselves, we still need to be very aware (and concerned) about what is going on in the non-organic world. Why?

Because the toxic chemicals that are sprayed on conventionally-grown food end up in the water supply.

And the EPA is not doing its job when it comes to protecting the integrity of our water.

WHAT IS ATRAZINE AND WHY YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT IT

One of the most widely used chemicals that gets sprayed on conventionally-grown food is Atrazine, a toxic weed killer.

According to 2008 data from the USDA Pesticide Data Program, Atrazine has been found in 94% of of our water supply. Read more »

I was never a peanut butter and jelly kid growing up. In fact, it really turned me off.

So, it is kind of ironic that decades later, a much healthier version of the traditional PB&J is now one of my favorite snacks.

Read more »