You can’t read or listen to the news without hearing the alarming childhood obesity statistics, and adults aren’t doing well, either.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), childhood obesity has more than tripled over the last three decades. Today, more than one third of all children and adolescents are considered to be overweight or obese. Adult statistics are similar.

One way the CDC recommends addressing the problem is for healthy eating to become a part of every child’s life. It begins with reading food labels and learning how to make decisions. The process can be made fun, and a learning experience for both kids and adults.

As soon as they can read, children can begin to learn how to read food labels. Measuring food to learn portion control can be like a game for younger children, and also teaches measurements. Learning the components of food—fat, protein, salt and sugar, and how many grams are in a portion—leads to healthier food choices. Even young children can learn about vitamins and other nutrients in food.

Here are some tips for teaching kids how to read food labels, provided by Fresh Healthy Vending. The company is also part of the solution, packing vending machines with good-for-you snacks instead of empty-calorie choices. (The company also offers franchises, if you want to work with healthy foods.)

It can be fun learning to read nutrition labels. Photo courtesy U.S. Potato Board.

1. Understand Portion Sizes. Set out a couple of the kids’ favorite foods, such as cereal and juice, along with a measuring cup. Demonstrate how to determine what a serving size is, based on the product’s Nutrition Facts label. Let kids measure out one serving. Continue each day with different foods until they have mastered serving sizes.

2. Move On To Nutrition Facts. Once kids understand portion sizes, explain the information on the Nutrition Facts label, including calories, cholesterol, total fat, fiber, protein, total carbohydrates and sugar. Explain why it is important to know how much of each is in a serving, and what amount is considered high. For example, kids can look at a can of soda and see that it has 40 grams of sugar, and that is considered high; a serving of Cheerios has one gram of sugar, and that is considered low. This exercise will likely be a learning experience for you, too. The USDA advises adults who eat a 2,000-calorie diet to limit sugar intake to about 40 grams (10 teaspoons) of added sugar per day (in addition to the natural sugars present in fruit, milk and so forth). A teenager who follows a healthy diet can consume about 18 teaspoons of added sugars, according to USDA; but the average sugar intake of a teenager is about 34 teaspoons of sugar per day.

3. Learn To Read The Ingredients List. Which ingredients are natural, which are artificial and chemical? Remind children that fresh fruits and vegetables don’t usually have labels but are usually the most natural and healthiest options around. Show them how to look up nutrition on the Internet (searching for “apple nutrition” will provide the answers). Explain the Daily Value, and how individual product decisions add up to the day’s total food intake.

4. Do Product Comparisons. The next step is to do label comparisons, so kids can determine which choices are better for them.

5. Head To The Grocery Store. Once kids have been exposed to label reading at home, take them to the grocery store. Give them the assignment of choosing between options. Over time, they’ll become familiar with many foods, know which are healthy and unhealthy, and be able to identify healthier food options without always having to rely on reading labels.

6. Take It To The Restaurant Level. How can kids make the best choices at restaurants? Chain restaurants have calorie counts. A calorie booklet or app can provide guidance at those without information.

Turn the process into a game, with quizzes. Keep quiz scores on the refrigerator door. Consider rewards for achievement—a trip to the movies or the zoo is also a chance to make healthy eating choices. Offer a binder to keep nutrition labels, articles and comments.

It will take time and practice—and patience—but you’ll be giving children a healthy advantage for life.

For more information, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Childhood Obesity Facts.

In 1580, King Karl IV of Sweden built the Åkers Styckebruk foundry to produce cannons for the Swedish army. Along with the foundry, he built a distillery to make vodka for the workers (nice benefit!).

Over time, the distillery became privately owned and the largest distillery in Sweden. Nearly 300 workers produced more than a million liters of vodka annually.

After a succession of monarchs, King Gustav IV outlawed the private production of spirits, in order to reap the revenues via a state monopoly. The distillery was closed for more than 200 years. The monopoly was lifted in the 1990s and a new owner set out to revive the legacy. In 2010, the first case of Kanon Organic Vodka was shipped to New York.

The vodka is produced with 400-year-old traditional techniques in an artisan environment: The distillery employs just 15 people.

Kanon Organic Vodka makes a good gift at any time; but is especially easy to grab as a last-minute gift.

Photo courtesy Kanon Vodka.

WHY ORGANIC VODKA?

Organic vodka is a feel-good product—and not just because the vodka is delicious. At Kanon, the entire production process is not only organic, but totally sustainable.

 
The superpremium vodka uses only the heart* of the distillation: The heads and tails are converted into ethanol to make environmentally-friendly biogas for local buses.

The only ingredients in the bottle are wheat and artesian water. The taste and character of the vodka are maintained in perfect balance, with no “burn.”

We keep our vodka in the freezer and drink it neat. Skal!

Learn more at KanonVodka.com

*Look at distillation as a bell curve. The distillate in the center (heart) of the curve is of higher quality than that produced at the beginning (head) or end (tail). The heads and tails can be re-distilled to get a second heart, but the heart from the first run is superior. The heads and tails, which are included in inferior alcohols, produce hangovers.

THE SCOOP ON MULTIPLE DISTILLATION

You’ve seen vodka claims: distilled three times…five times…50 times. Kanon Organic Vodka is only distilled once. Here’s why:

When the ingredients aren’t pure enough to begin with, when parts of the head and tail are included, then multiple distillations with charcoal filtration are needed to remove impurities. The impurities in Kanon are removed after a single distillation.

Multiple distillations also remove the taste and character of the vodka.

Skål!

If you love peanut butter, you may have the same reaction we do when we hear of someone with a peanut allergy: “I’m so sorry.”

Those who know the joys of a peanut butter and jelly sandwich or peanut butter cups empathize with those who can’t have them.

But everyone can have sunflower butter!

Sunflower butter is a smooth spread that looks and tastes almost identical to peanut butter. It’s made from sunflower seeds and is completely peanut- and tree nut-free.

It’s healthier than PB, with one-third less saturated fat and 27% of a day’s recommended allowance of vitamin E, along with a much higher iron and fiber content (but 25% less protein).

In jars, it’s available in the same variations as peanut butter: creamy, crunchy, natural, organic, unsweetened, even individual snack-size packs. Sunflower butter is also an ingredient in snack foods that previously relied on peanut butter, including energy bars, granola bars and peanut butter cups.

All the lusciousness of peanut butter cups with no nuts whatsoever! Photo by Elvira Kalviste | THE NIBBLE.

Sun Cups are chocolate cups filled with sunflower butter instead of PB. They’re made by Seth Ellis Chocolatier in Boulder, Colorado.

They resemble Reese’s peanut butter cups, with a similar flavor (there’s just a hint of sunflower seed tanginess).

How Sun Cups Differ From Peanut Butter Cups

The makers of Good Karma Lactose-Free Creamers deserve good karma.

The new, all-natural line of dairy-free, lactose-free, soy-free, kosher-certified creamers is delicious. And most people won’t be able to tell the difference from conventional creamers.

Vegans and the ever-increasing community of lactose-intolerant people can rejoice. If you’re cutting down on sugar, you can rejoice, too: There’s none in the Original flavor, proving that you can create something excellent without refined sugar and high fructose corn syrup.

Also available in French Vanilla and Hazelnut, the creamers arrive just in time for the holiday season. You can serve a flavored creamer that fits in with virtually any food regimen. (Calories/tablespoon: 20 for Original, 30 for flavors.)

A boon for vegans and the lactose-intolerant. Photo courtesy Good Karma Foods.

The creamers are available in supermarkets and in Walmart stores nationwide. The 32-ounce containers are very affordable: a MSRP of $2.64 for Original and $3.37 for the two flavors. The line is certified kosher by OU.

Learn more at GoodKarmaFoods.com. If you “like” Good Karma on Facebook, you can enter to win a nifty Technivorm Moccamaster Coffee Maker, a brewer for serious coffee lovers. We tried it at Williams-Sonoma and would like to win one ourselves.

The company also supports sustainable agriculture. Good karma, indeed!

Tomatoes are genetically altered to improve
flavor and shelf life. Photo courtesy
WholeSoyCo.com.

What are GMOs, and why should you care?

GMOs, genetically modified organisms, are plant and animal organisms that have been created through gene-splicing, a biotechnology technique also known as genetic engineering (GE).

This relatively new science allows DNA from one species to be injected into another species in a laboratory, creating combinations of plant or animal DNA that do not occur in nature or through traditional crossbreeding methods (fish genes have been spliced into tomatoes, for example). Successful experiments have been introduced commercially.

Why do companies create GMOs?

To create foods that better meet production goals. The goals can be anything from tomatoes that are resistant to rot to lambs that can grow larger and produce bigger lamb chops (more examples here).

While not all varieties of any particular type of food are genetically engineered, here are the foods to question:

Top 10 Genetically Engineered Food Crops
1. Corn
2. Soy
3. Potato
4. Tomato
5. Canola
6. Cottonseed Oil
7. Papaya
8. Radicchio
9. Summer Squash
10. Salmon

See why these crops have been genetically engineered, and how likely you are to run across them. Note: while natural foods may label themselves “Non GMO,” there is no requirement for a genetically engineered food to label itself as such.

Needless to say, many in the consumer and industrial communities are against genetic engineering.

What’s The Issue?

According to Discovery News, “For years, opponents have argued that genetically engineered plants wreak havoc with human health and nature, and accuse plant biotech companies, such as Monsanto, of putting profits before people. On the other hand, agricultural biotech proponents argue that engineered crops enable farmers to grow [more food] at a time of global food shortages, insidious pests, weeds and extreme weather.”

It’s a complicated issue. While the FDA believes that GMOs are safe and allows them in America, some 30 other countries, including Australia, Japan and the entire European Union, restrict or outright ban the production of GMOs—because they are not considered to be proven safe.

The FDA approved commercial production of GMOs based on studies conducted by the very companies that created them and profit from their sale. Many health-conscious shoppers find the lack of rigorous, independent, scientific examination on the impact of consuming GMO-based foods to be cause for concern.

It will require many decades of eating engineered food before we know if GMOs cause problems in humans. While we at THE NIBBLE are unqualified to have an opinion on their safety, we do have an opinion on lobbyists and the power they exert over our elected and appointed officials to gain approval and pass legislation on behalf of their employers.

So the next time you’re making a purchase decision, consider the package that says “non-GMO.”

How Can You Avoid GMO Food?

An organization called True Food Now offers a free mobile app for iPhone and Android. It is a guide to common genetically engineered ingredients, brands to look for (and look out for) and common sense tips.

For more information about GMOs, visit The Non GMO Project.

Crunchy nuggets with a cinnamon blush.
Photo courtesy Kashi Company.

Our grandfather loved Post Shredded Wheat, and we came to love it too—despite the fact that his daughter (Mom) didn’t like it and wouldn’t keep it in the house. So when we went to Grandpa’s, our treat was getting to eat as many bowls of it as we could.

When we left for college, Shredded Wheat became a go-to comfort food, standing in for many a dinner as well as breakfast.

Today we know that Shredded Wheat and similar boxed cereals are whole grain powerhouses. When we saw that Kashi Company’s Autumn Wheat contained 50g of whole grains—even more than the recommended daily value—we switched brands and started each day with a bowl of Kashi. (The flavor is better, too.)

Now the Kashi Company, known for its tasty organic cereals, has launched Cinnamon Harvest: crunchy, bite-size whole wheat biscuits splashed with ground cinnamon and organic evaporated cane juice crystals.

Just one serving contains 47g of the 48g recommended daily value (DV) of whole grains, and 20% of one’s daily fiber.

It’s a great snacking cereal, too, and is also available in Island Vanilla, made with finely-ground vanilla beans.

Why Is Whole Grain So Important?

Our article on whole grain cereals explains all.

If you can’t find a local restaurant selling delicious falafel sandwiches, here’s a video that shows how easy they are to make at home.

And here’s a falafel recipe along with recipes for your choice of tahini sauce, yogurt sauce or garlic sauce.

Made from chickpeas and/or fava beans, garlic, parsley, cilantro and seasonings, falafel is a vegan food that is an excellent ambassador for how tasty vegan cuisine can be.

Falafel is also dairy-free, cholesterol-free, egg-free, sugar-free and potentially gluten-free.

We loved the old food pyramid. But not everyone likes to read charts as much as we do, or count off the number of fruit, veggie and grain servings.

The original food pyramid, launched by the USDA in 1992, included the four food groups stacked in the shape of a pyramid with the number of recommended servings a person should eat from each group in a day. The widest part of the pyramid depicted the foods that should make up most of the diet (cereals and grains). The top of the pyramid, indicating the group that should be eaten in small amounts, was fats.

In 2005, the USDA revised the pyramid, expanding the number of food groups to six and adding a person walking up steps on the side of the pyramid to emphasize the need for exercise.

But it wasn’t popular with some nutritionists; and it for sure had no visible impact on the increase of child (and adult) obesity rates.

So long pyramid, hello plate. Image
courtesy MyPlate.com.

The new guideline, MyPlate, is a dramatic departure: a simple visual so that people can eat healthy at every meal. The visual has four colored sections representing fruits, vegetables, grains and proteins. Next to the plate is a smaller circle representing dairy products.

Now, instead a huge plate of pasta with a small salad or a large piece of meat and potatoes with a few broccoli florets, one can look at the plate and see that at least half of it should be grains and vegetables. (Pasta is a grain—but that grain shouldn’t occupy 100% of the plate.)

On ChooseMyPlate.com, the USDA emphasizes several important nutrition messages: eat smaller portions, make at least half the plate fruits and vegetables and avoid sugary drinks.

Here’s the advice from the USDA (none of it is news):

Balance Your Calories

 
Eat More Healthy Foods

 
Foods to Reduce

Consume fewer pesticides: download the
pocket guide or app. Image courtesy
FoodNews.org.

We’ve previously written about the “Dirty Dozen” and the “Clean 15,” terms that refer to how much residual pesticide is left on produce, even after you wash and/or peel it.

With tempting seasonal produce entering the market, it’s time to revisit when it pays to buy organic produce.

Research has found that people who eat five fruits and vegetables a day from the Dirty Dozen list consume an average of 10 pesticides a day. Those who eat from the “Clean 15”—the 15 least contaminated conventionally-grown fruits and vegetables—ingest fewer than two pesticides daily.

The Shopper’s Guide To Pesticides, from the Environmental Working Group (EWG), is a key resource for consumers aiming to eat healthier. It helps us make informed choices in order to lower our dietary pesticide load.

There’s a downloadable pocket guide and iPhone app to help you avoid the Dirty Dozen—those conventional fruits and vegetables found to be highest in pesticides—and focus instead on the Clean Fifteen fruits and vegetables that are the lowest.

Download the guide or app.

The guide was developed based on data from nearly 89,000 tests for pesticide residues in produce examined between 2000 and 2008, collected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. You can find a detailed description of the criteria EWG used to develop these rankings and the complete list of tested fruits and vegetables at Foodnews.org.

In order of the amount of pesticide residue:

 
You’ve been eating pesticides all your life. Why should you care about them now?
The growing consensus among scientists is that small doses of pesticides and other chemicals can cause lasting damage to human health, especially during fetal development and early childhood. Scientists now know enough about the long-term consequences of ingesting these powerful chemicals to advise that we minimize our consumption of pesticides.

What about washing and peeling the produce?
The data used by researchers is based on produce tested as it is typically eaten: washed, rinsed or peeled, depending on the type of produce. Rinsing reduces but does not eliminate pesticides. Peeling helps, but valuable nutrients often go down the drain with the skin. The best approach: eat a varied diet, rinse all produce and buy organic when possible.

A couple of months ago, we received an invitation to two industry events on the same evening.

One was for the Lightlife brand of vegan “meat” products. The other was to the opening of celebrity chef Todd English’s new restaurant.

We made plans to stop by and taste Lightlife, a product line we’d never tried, and then head to Todd English’s restaurant. Here’s how the evening turned out:

We liked the Lightlife foods so much, we stayed the entire evening, happily tasting everything. We never made it to the restaurant. Could there be a better endorsement of how good the Lightlife “vegan meat” products are?

We are neither vegetarian nor vegan. We eat everything that’s delicious, and nothing that isn’t.

Eating more vegan foods (products without any animal-based ingredients) supports our personal commitment to eating more sustainably. As much a we love meat, cheese and dairy foods, producing them takes a big toll on the planet.

Lightlife’s vegan Chick’n Corn Chowder
is enhanced with “bacon.” Both meats are
made from tempeh, a soy-based protein,
and are delicious. Photo courtesy Lightlife Foods.

The line is certified vegan and kosher by OK. Read the full review. It also explains the differences between tempeh, tofu and seitan.

If you’re looking for delicious, prepared vegan food, also see these Top Picks Of The Week: