Archive for the ‘Food-Nutrition-Health’ Category

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Cultured Dairy (Yogurt, Kefir, etc.)

Saturday, August 20th, 2011

by Catherine Haug, August 19, 2011; updated January 14, 2012 (Seed & Nut Milk section)

At this month’s Gathering on Lacto-Fermentation, Jeanette Cheney demonstrated how to make several fermented beverages traditionally made from milk (but her samples were made from coconut and soy milk). One of the questions  from the audience concerned why and when do you need to sterilize the milk (heat to 180° F) before adding the culture.

I’ll admit that when I first starting making yogurt, kefir and other cultured dairy products, I too was rather confused by this. But after much experience, I think I have a good understanding to share with you. (more…)

Posted in Fermentation, Culturing & Curing, Food-Nutrition-Health | 2 Comments »

Local Food Production/Handling Coop in NW Montana

Saturday, August 20th, 2011

by Catherine Haug, Aug 20, 2011, from Jason Moore

A new movement is afoot to organize a virtual (online) food co-op in NW Montana. This proposed co-op may participate in many “Food System” functions including packaging, sorting, marketing, warehousing, distribution, and recycling. (more…)

Posted in Community, Food-Nutrition-Health | Comments Closed

Rethink Calcium Supplementation

Thursday, August 18th, 2011

by Catherine Haug, August 15, 2011

Do you, like millions of others, regularly take supplemental calcium to build strong bones? If so, you may want to reconsider that decision.

The primary reason to rethink calcium and other mineral supplementation is that the mining of minerals such as calcium (primary source of most minerals in supplements) is an energy-intensive process, and as such is not sustainable.

And now there is a health reason, too:

Green Med Info: Calcium supplements with or without vitamin D increase the risk of cardiovascular events (2) reports that calcium supplementation significantly increases risk of heart attacks (from British Medical Journal research article by Bolland, et. al. (3)). Dr Mercola (1) reports that no more than 500 mg calcium per day should be taken supplementally.

How can this be? (more…)

Posted in Health | Comments Closed

Local Food and Agriculture in Montana; Grass-Finished Beef

Sunday, August 7th, 2011

by Catherine Haug, August 7, 2011 (first published June 6 as an event notice)

This last June, an exciting event happened in Missoula: Food and Agriculture Under the Big Sky; People, Partnerships and Policies. (See Food and Agriculture Under the Big Sky for the original event info). One of the topics at this conference was promotion of grass-finished beef from Montana ranches.

Grass-Finished Beef

What caught my attention was discussion of efforts to improve local access to locally produced foods, including a ranch east of Missoula that is starting to finish their beef on grass rather than grain, for a more healthful product, and they plan to market it locally.

Here in the Flathead, most locally produced beef is sent to a feed lot to be finished on grain before slaughter. But what the animal eats in the weeks before slaughter is what most affects the quality and nutrition of the meat; pasture (grass) is far better than grain. Wouldn’t it be wonderful to have locally-produced grass-finished beef here, too? (more…)

Posted in Agriculture, Food-Nutrition-Health | Comments Closed

Gathering Summary: Cheese Making at Home, A Panel Presentation, June 15, 2011

Sunday, July 17th, 2011

by Catherine Haug, June 20, 2011

(photo by C. Haug)

This is just a short synopsis; you can find more detail in the complete, printable pdf file: Gathering Summary: Cheese Making at Home, a Panel Presentation).

Presentation Topics

Panel members Fran Wade and Shelli Riedesel demonstrated the following cheese-making processes:

  • Semi-soft cheese from raw milk (Fran)
  • Cream cheese from raw milk (Fran)
  • Hard cheese from pasteurized milk (Shelli)
  • Waxing hard cheese (Shelli)

See also:

(more…)

Posted in Fermentation, Culturing & Curing, Food-Nutrition-Health, Gathering Summaries, Home & Ranch | Comments Closed

Just Pop a Pill; You’ll Be Better in the Morning

Thursday, July 14th, 2011

by Catherine Haug, June 3 ,2011; updated Sept 4, 2011

We are a drug-addicted nation. I’m not just talking about illegal drugs. I’m talking about prescription drugs, over the counter (OTC) drugs, and supplements. Somewhere along the way, we stopped being a nation of people who rarely take an aspirin, to one that consumes at least $330 Billion in legal drugs annually.

What are the health consequences of this choice? (more…)

Posted in Ecology, Energy, Health | Comments Closed

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