Sound Consumer

Dedicated since 1961 to informing and inspiring the PCC community through the co-op’s vision of advancing the health and well-being of people, their neighborhoods and our planet.

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Sound Consumer, April 2009

The Eco-kitchen

I’ve often dreamed of someday creating a kitchen that’s as green as you can get but until then, I’ve found many ways to improve my current cooking space. From using appliances more efficiently to cleaning with earth-friendly products, here’s a primer for how you can, too.

I’ve often dreamed of someday creating a kitchen that’s as green as you can get but until then, I’ve found many ways to improve my current cooking space. From using appliances more efficiently to cleaning with earth-friendly products, here’s a primer for how you can, too.

Host a chocolate tasting party

Good chocolate, like wine or coffee, has complex tastes and aromas that reflect the type of cacao beans, where the beans are grown, and how they are roasted and refined. Gathering friends for a chocolate tasting can be a fun way to explore the many flavors of this pleasureful treat, so here are a few ideas to get your party started.

Good chocolate, like wine or coffee, has complex tastes and aromas that reflect the type of cacao beans, where the beans are grown, and how they are roasted and refined. Gathering friends for a chocolate tasting can be a fun way to explore the many flavors of this pleasureful treat, so here are a few ideas to get your party started.

Everything old is new again! Pressure cookers are in

In 1973, the book, “Diet for a Small Planet,” by Frances Moore Lappé, so impressed me I decided to change everything about the foods I fed my growing family and assorted others in our extended household. Reading Lappé, I became determined to learn how to prepare mostly vegetarian meals — as a way to use fewer resources and for the added health and nutrition as well.

In 1973, the book, “Diet for a Small Planet,” by Frances Moore Lappé, so impressed me I decided to change everything about the foods I fed my growing family and assorted others in our extended household. Reading Lappé, I became determined to learn how to prepare mostly vegetarian meals — as a way to use fewer resources and for the added health and nutrition as well.

Notes from the Cellar

In French, there is no word for “winemaker.” Neither does the word exist in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Piemontese, Basque, Occitan, or any of a Babel of linguistic local flavors. While it may seem a charming, but anachronistic Old European curiosity, it’s not an accident, nor an oversight. This seemingly trifling linguistic detail explains a lot, about a lot of things.

In French, there is no word for “winemaker.” Neither does the word exist in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Piemontese, Basque, Occitan, or any of a Babel of linguistic local flavors. While it may seem a charming, but anachronistic Old European curiosity, it’s not an accident, nor an oversight. This seemingly trifling linguistic detail explains a lot, about a lot of things.

Seasonal produce

It’s a sure sign of spring when asparagus starts appearing in the produce department. This tender vegetable is such a treat when steamed or sautéed, perhaps tossed with a little olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Enjoy the recipe “Asperges aux Beurre Noisettes” or Asparagus with Brown Butter Sauce and Hazelnuts.

It’s a sure sign of spring when asparagus starts appearing in the produce department. This tender vegetable is such a treat when steamed or sautéed, perhaps tossed with a little olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Enjoy the recipe “Asperges aux Beurre Noisettes” or Asparagus with Brown Butter Sauce and Hazelnuts.

Stewarding farmland

Farmland provides much more than food. Well-stewarded farmland provides habitat for wildlife, preserves scenic open space, and helps filter our water and the air we breathe. Organic practices take farmland stewardship one step further by eliminating synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). And check us out on Facebook!

Farmland provides much more than food. Well-stewarded farmland provides habitat for wildlife, preserves scenic open space, and helps filter our water and the air we breathe. Organic practices take farmland stewardship one step further by eliminating synthetic fertilizers, pesticides and genetically modified organisms (GMOs). And check us out on Facebook!

Letters to the editor

From farms to food banks · Fair Trade tea · Domestic v. imported food · High fructose corn syrup · GM corn · Toxic rhubarb greens · FDA unable to protect food supply? · Bisphenol A and baby bottles · Keep printed Sound Consumer · Heating the home

From farms to food banks · Fair Trade tea · Domestic v. imported food · High fructose corn syrup · GM corn · Toxic rhubarb greens · FDA unable to protect food supply? · Bisphenol A and baby bottles · Keep printed Sound Consumer · Heating the home

News bites

Consumers still buying green · Organic food sales · Supporting local through a recession · One food safety agency? · Eat more dirt? · Organic veteran chosen for USDA post · Biotech companies thwart research · Men more responsive to caffeine · Calories, not content, determine weight loss · Organics can prevent food crises · Organic agriculture increases worldwide · GM cotton contaminates food chain

Consumers still buying green · Organic food sales · Supporting local through a recession · One food safety agency? · Eat more dirt? · Organic veteran chosen for USDA post · Biotech companies thwart research · Men more responsive to caffeine · Calories, not content, determine weight loss · Organics can prevent food crises · Organic agriculture increases worldwide · GM cotton contaminates food chain

Your co-op

Notice of annual membership meeting · 2009 board election begins this month · Board report · PCC commended by organic certifier

Notice of annual membership meeting · 2009 board election begins this month · Board report · PCC commended by organic certifier