One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish.

Image from http://www.worldchanging.com

 I saw a commercial the other day for an organization called Oceana which works to protect the world's oceans, that grabbed my attention, first, by the sight of actor Adrian Grenier in a wet suit, and then by the mention of the rapidly diminishing Bluefin tuna population. I am sure that you heard some talk of the high levels of mercury found in fish such as Chilean Seabass, or talk of illegal and unsustainable fishing as reasoning for avoiding some seafood. Oh boy, another controversial food group that is cause for more confusion or guilt while dining out or grocery shopping and more reason to throw the towel in and disregard all talk of such touchy food topics while eating as you please. Instead of getting frustrated and giving up, leave it to a simple text message to sort out the information for you. Next time you are at a restaurant or standing in line at the seafood counter at the market, whip out your phone and text the Blue Ocean Institute's "Fish Phone" at 30644 to get the straight answer to whether or not the beautiful pink tuna steak behind the glass is just as harmless as it looks. Just text "fish" followed by the species (Ex: fish bluefin tuna) and, immediately, a response will dish out the latest alerts for that particular fish, and also give you the option to receive additional updates by replying "BLUE".

"BlueOcean.org; Atlantic Bluefin Tuna (RED); all three populations overfished with very low abundance due to ineffective management; Env Defense Fund Advisory: high mercury; Reply BLUE for txt message updates"

The best part of waking up...

...is knowing that with every sip (okay, I admit, gulp), I am NOT destroying the Earth. If you choose to disregard the benefits of eating organic (lack of pesticides, encouragement of biodiversity, supporting small farms, etc.), please consider choosing organic coffee from this point on. I attended a lecture a couple of weekends ago titled The Green Revolution at the annual Food and Nutrition Conference & Expo in Boston and learned a great deal of information on how to purchase, prepare, and eat food in an eco-friendly AND nutritious way. Can you guess the top three countries with the highest emission of greenhouse gases?? One and two are pretty easy: China and the United States, but with Indonesia close behind, something has to be wrong. It is all due to deforestation, the clearing of fields for the production of oil palm, timber, and--you guessed it--coffee. So, the least we can do is trek (walk or ride a bike, of course!) to the grocery store (not Starbucks!) and buy a bag of ORGANIC coffee.

Right now, I am enjoying organic Allegro coffee from Whole Foods!

Now that's what I call a CONFLICT OF INTEREST.

Cathleen P. Black, newly nominated to lead the New York City public school system, resigned last week from the board of Coca-Cola. Influential political positions are often held by individuals whom also share a direct connection to corporations, whose interests they are all too likely to push when the situation arises. If this is the first you have heard of such "conflicts of interests," you should definitely check out Michael Pollan's documentary Food, Inc. to learn more about the web of policymakers and corporate big whigs that are making it extremely difficult for those of us who have our hearts set on providing Americans with a way out of this spiral downward into obesity and its ever-increasing list of detrimental effects including chronic disease, exorbitant health care costs, and overall reduced quality of life. Check out the article in the New York Times today that set me off on this early morning rant!

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/17/nyregion/17coke.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a29

Oh, and Ms. Black, you should really get on Coca-Cola's back about updating their list of board members.

http://www.thecoca-colacompany.com/ourcompany/bios/bio_22.html

CUPCAKE BAN

This one may hit a little too close to home for someone I know (hint: fellow blogger known for her search, high and low, for the perfect cupcake on her blog Coup de Cake). Although I am a staunch cupcake-hater, I found myself rolling my eyes in disgust while reading the article in the Detroit News about schools banning children from bringing in cupcakes on their birthdays. It is an interesting concept, especially since in exchange they are celebrating birthdays by extending recess time, but I cannot imagine that kids are eating less junk food or, in the bigger picture, becoming less obese. We should not be barring our children from tasty sweets, especially those that are homemade, as people have been celebrating special occasions with delicious food since biblical times. We SHOULD be teaching them to enjoy small amounts of sweets sporadically, allowing them to learn for themselves that they will taste much better that way! The first bite is always the best...

http://www.detnews.com/article/20101115/SCHOOLS/11150353/1026/Some-Michigan-schools-even-ban-cupcakes-to-fight-obesity

Remember: Enjoy what you love in moderation--even whole grains, running, and scrubbing the kitchen counters, in my case--and you will never have to give up what you love.