Meatless Monday: Kicking BPA from Cans

By now most of us know to avoid cans when we can. But cooking without canned ingredients is pretty hard to do, particularly during winter and spring in New England. I finally found barramundi in my store’s freezer case, and three of the ingredients for the recipe I’ll be preparing tonight come in cans! More on barramundi sometime soon.

But there is good news on the can front. Early in March, Campbell’s Soup added their name to the growing list of companies pledging to remove BPA from their can linings. Campbell’s products showed some of the highest-ranked levels of BPA in studies conducted by Consumer Reports in 2009. Organizers for the Breast Cancer Fund’s  “Cans Not Cancer” campaign claim that over 70,000 letters were sent to Campbell’s urging them to make this change. 

According to information in the April edition of The Voice, the email newsletter of Women’s Voices for the Earth, the list of companies with BPA-free cans includes: including Eden Foods, Muir Glen, Trader Joe's, Heinz, Hain Celestial Group, ConAgra, and now Campbell’s. Consumers do have the power!

Consumer groups had called upon the FDA to issue a ban on BPA in cans, similar to the one it issued for  infant bottles.  But late in March, the FDA made the announcement that it will continue to study BPA. 

Earth Day is coming. What’s on your agenda? I’ll be biking in Rock to Rock, New Haven’s Earth Day Ride. [Note the link goes to my fundraising page. ;) ] It’s been sunny and dry here, but there is rain in the forecast. Here’s hoping it arrives a day early. We could use it. Brush fires in Connecticut in April? Really. Check out these weather tables for 2012 and 2011.

Happy Monday. Have a great week.

I often blog on food or food issues on Monday in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.”

Meatless Monday: CEYo Mooves Over

Stonyfield co-founder Gary Hirshberg announced in January that he was stepping aside as “CE-Yo” in order to have more time to devote to the food policy efforts in which he is involved, in particular his work with the Just Label It campaign.

Just Label It’s founding premise is that we Americans have a right to know if our food has been genetically engineered. Over 40 other nations, including 15 in the European Union, Japan, Australia, Brazil, and even Russia and China, require such labels. According to the Just Label It site, more that 90% of Americans support such mandatory labeling. 

Just Label It recently launched a campaign petitioning the FDA to require mandatory labeling of genetically engineered (GMO) foods.

The campaign yielded over 1.1 million comments which the FDA is currently uploading to the public record.

There are many ways you can help the cause. Check out the site’s 8 action steps. 

More than 500 organizations are listed as partners in Just Label It’s endeavors. It should be no surprise that Stonyfield is on the list.

Just Label It can certainly put Gary Hirshberg’s talents and influence to good use. After all, he is the man who introduced Stonyfield Organics into Wal-Mart.

Happy Monday. Have a great week.

I often blog on food or food issues on Monday in support of Meatless Monday, one of several programs developed in the Healthy Monday project, founded in 2003 in association with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and Syracuse University’s Newhouse School of Communications. Meatless Monday’s goal is “to help reduce meat consumption 15% in order to improve personal health and the health of our planet.”

Saturday Short Subjects: Gmail Tap

I wasn’t planning to post today, but I can’t wait to share this new app with you. Introduced a week ago, I just learned of it last night. If you use Gmail on your phone, this product will rock your world.

The app’s release date was April 1. If you haven’t guessed it by now, this is one of Google’s 2012 April Fool’s Day pranks. There are lots more, including Google Maps in 8-bit designed for the NIntendo, Google Really Advanced Search, and Google’s partnership with NASCAR. You can check out all 16 pranks and their links here. Tap is my favorite.

Have fun, and have a great weekend.

Why Saturday Short Subjects? Some readers may recall  being dropped at the movie theater for the Saturday matinee — two action-packed feature films with a series of short subjects (cartoons or short movies, sometimes a serial cliffhanger) sandwiched in between. Often the short subjects were the most memorable, and enjoyable, part of the morning. That explains the name. The reason behind these particular posts is that we are all short on time. My Short Subject posts should not take me as long to write or you as long to read (or try).