My husband's cast iron skillet: The grosser it looks, the better it is to cook on!

First, a little background. You and I call it Teflon, but what we’re really talking about is perfluorooctanoic acid (or PFOA), which is what manufacturers use to make all your brownie pans, frying pans, and turkey roasters non-stick. You can also find the chemical, which is sometimes referred to as C8, inside of packaged foods containers such as microwave popcorn bags and in many other consumer products. (The Environmental Protection Agency has a page dedicated to PFOA that’s got a lot more information. It’s certainly worth a read. You can find it here.)

Here are the problems that the EPA had with PFOA, taken directly from its site:

• PFOA is very persistent in the environment; it doesn’t break down and go away.
• It is found everywhere. You can see very low levels both in the environment and in the blood of the general U.S. population
• It sticks around inside of us for very long time, too. Once you ingest it or breathe it in, it’s in there.
• It has been found to cause “developmental and other adverse effects in laboratory animals.” (And in humans, too!)

If you’re like me, the last item in the list might be the one that’s giving you pause. What kind of adverse effects, you might want to know. Well, according to research studies PFOA can be linked to:

• Lower birth rate and size: Researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found that babies with higher concentrations of the chemical had smaller heads and lower body weights. Read the study here.
• Infertility: Women with higher levels of PFOA took longer to get pregnant, according to a study out of the UCLA School of Public Health.
• Elevated cholesterol: Kids with higher levels of PFOA have higher cholesterol levels, according to a study in the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
• Thyroid disease: A “study revealed that people with higher concentrations of PFOA in their blood have higher rates of thyroid disease. The researchers analyzed samples from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s nationally representative National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES),” according to researchers.
• ADHD: In this study, Boston University School of Public Health researchers found “increased odds of ADHD in children with higher serum PFC levels.” (PFOA is one of the PFCs they tracked.)

There have also been studies linking PFOA to cancer, although most of the research has been on the effects of PFOA released into the environment as a byproduct of manufacturing. No matter, the research is so compelling that, way back in 2006, the EPA asked manufacturers to phase out the chemical. Eight large non-stick manufacturers complied. The voluntary ban will be achieved by 2015, but that doesn’t do anything for all the folks who have non-stick cookware in their homes already unless they proactively get rid of everything non-stick they own.

That’s exactly what we did. Despite the fact that my husband loved his non-stick griddle, we tossed it along with four frying pans, a brownie pan, cake pans, cookie sheets, and a roasting pan. We actually threw it in the recycling bin rather than donating it to make sure it wasn’t going to be around to potentially make someone else sick. Today, we use either cast iron or stainless steel when we cook, bake, or fry, and I didn’t spend a fortune to make this happen.

My husband, for instance, got a $30 cast iron griddle to replace his beloved non-stick one. (No, he did not like it in the beginning, but has grown to love it.) I bought it from my local Target, and was thrilled to discover it was actually made in the United States, which is a rarity these days. Target also carries a number of other cast iron Lodge products including loaf pans, skittles, and fryers. (Note: I have nothing to do with Target or Lodge and am not being paid to say that. I just like the products.) I picked up some really inexpensive Pyrex brownie and cake pans at the Pyrex outlet. I got my stainless stuff as hand-me-downs, and was actually pleased to find that I had a plain stainless cookie sheet already sitting in my cabinet as well as a nice stainless frying pan.

From a cooking perspective, I love the fact that the glass and stainless stuff cleans up really easily. It’s also adding some extra flavor to my baking since I am forced to grease and flour my cake pans and butter up the brownie pan. The cast iron griddle, which is fully seasoned now, gives off a warm, homey smell when things are cooking on it. Plus, I love the extra boost of iron the entire family gets with our pancakes and eggs. (The American Dietetic Association confirms that cooking foods in or on cast iron increases the amount of iron in foods.)

Of course, most people aren’t going to be able to toss all their non-stick cookware into the garbage like I did, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do something. I challenge everyone to replace one pan — the one you use the most — by the end of the year since it can make a huge difference in your PFOA exposure. Ready to give it a shot?

This post is how I am participating in this week’s Real Food Wednesdays and Fight Back Fridays, two awesome blog carnivals dedicated to promoting the use and consumption of — what else? — real food.

• as much Vitamin C as cup of blueberries
• as much iron as a cup of spinach
• as much calcium and Vitamin D as a glass of milk
• as much Vitamin A as an 8 ounce glass of tomato juice
• as much fiber as a bowl of oatmeal
• as much Vitamin E as two glasses of carrot juice
• as much Vitamin B-12 as a cup of cottage cheese and fruit

Wow, I thought, a cookie that is actually healthy is probably something I would want to buy! I had to see the list of ingredients, though, since it sounded too good to be true. Unfortunately, it was. Every one of the four varieties (Chocolate, Crispy, Soft & Chewy, and Vanilla) contains artificial flavors, hydrogenated oils, and chemicals like monocalcium phosphate, monoglycerides, and polydextrose. (Polydextrose, according to Wikipedia, is “an indigestable synthetic polymer of glucose.” Ugh.) The Soft & Chewy version lists high fructose corn syrup as its third ingredient. Have a look at the ingredients yourself.

The Twitter party, which was HUGE and well-attended, was a busy one, but the conversation didn’t reflect the fact that these cookies are basically plain old cookies that contain some not-so-great ingredients — with some added vitamins thrown in. Instead, the hosts played up a health and nutrition angle. Most of the questions, in fact, were directly related to nutrition such as: What is your best tip for ensuring your child has a nutrition-rich diet? Do you worry your athlete is not getting enough vitamins and minerals in their diet? How do you celebrate the end of a (sports) season? What does your athlete eat after a game? What type of food would you take to your child’s game or a team party? Have you ever struggled with being asked to be the Team Snack Mom?

Attendee comments during the two-hour Twitter party were all over the place, but most were very enthusiastic. One attendee/host suggested dunking WhoNus into milk to get a “double” vitamin boost. (“When you dunk a Whonu in milk its like getting double the vitimans.”) Another said she likes crumpling up the cookies into Greek yogurt. Yet another said how happy she was that cookies were finally a healthy food. Exact words: “It is nice they are nutritious.” Sigh.

My take away from this is how smart the folks at WhoNu’s parent company Suncore Products are. They are marketing these cookies as part of a healthy, active lifestyle. Moms, who may not have the time or gumption to look at the ingredients, are falling for the hype hook, line, and sinker. And that’s one of the biggest problem I have with these cookies: Parents are being lulled into thinking they are doing something good for their kids when in reality they are simply giving them a highly processed food that just happens to have vitamins in it. Oh, and the fact that all those parents are probably playing up the vitamin angle when giving them to their kids, who will then learn to equate cookies with healthy food. I’d have fewer problems with them if Suncore Products removed all the artificial gunk and high fructose corn syrup. How about you?

This post is how I am participating in this week’s Real Food Wednesday and Fight Back Friday, two awesome blog carnivals dedicated to promoting the use and consumption of — what else? — real food. BTW: If you’re looking for a truly “healthy” cookie, why not bake some yourself? There are some great recipes out there. Try this one or this one or this one.

The story has been the same all over the Island. Everyone, or so it seems, is talking about how crazy-vicious the mosquitoes are and how SOMEONE should do something. This weekend we got a call telling us that Nassau County was going to do that something: The county was going to be spraying my area and others surrounding us with Scourge, a resmethrin- and piperonyl butoxide-based pesticide since someone in the area had been diagnosed with West Nile virus.

As much as I hate those bugs, as much as I wish they were gone, I wish the county had simply let nature — and the impending cold weather — take care of the mosquitoes.

First off, I really don’t like the fact that our county executive robo-called everyone in Nassau warning them to keep their windows and doors closed, take children’s toys inside, cover fish ponds, and keep pets inside. The fact that it would take the time to do this means that these are not simple warnings. There is actual danger. And I really hate the product spec sheet from Bayer Environmental Science, the company that manufactures Scourge. “Harmful if absorbed through the skin,” and even better, “Caution. Keep out of the reach of children. Hazard to humans and domestic animals. This pesticide is highly toxic to fish.”

But what I really hate is that experts have come out against spraying, linking it to cancer, behavioral and developmental issues, and respiratory problems. The Cancer Prevention Coalition, founded by Samuel S. Epstein, M.D., who is at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s School of Public Health, has a long, scary FAQ about Scourge. Here are some of the highlights taken directly from the site:

• About one-fourth of the Scourge formula is “inert ingredients,” including petroleum by-products.
• Unpublished data by the manufacturer reveal that Resmethrin is cancer-causing, with specific risk of liver and thyroid cancers.
• Unless homes are air-tight and windows are closed at the time of spraying, all residents living in the vicinity of Scourge applications are at risk from inhalation.
• The EPA and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health have emphasized that the inerts used in Scourge are frequently contaminated with the potent carcinogen benzene, a well-documented cause of leukemia and other malignancies.
• There are many case reports on these inert ingredients causing respiratory problems including irritant and allergic responses, asthma and conjunctivitis following inhalation or skin exposure to Scourge.
• Children and the elderly are at increased risk for problems.
• There are less toxic control methods that are just as effective.

Another source — the California Environmental Protection Agency — in a 2007 study reported that “for resmethrin, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has concluded that there is a likely risk of carcinogenicity in humans, requiring the manufacturers to provide more detailed data to prove that it can be used safely in vector control.”

And yes, according to the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC), the chemical takes a long time to leave the environment. According to the chemical’s fact sheet: “The typical half-life of resmethrin in the soil is 30 days.” So after a month, about half of the amount of pesticide sprayed is still out there. The worst part, also according to the NPIC, is that the reason the county is spraying in the air is that it is released as an “ultra-low volume (ULV) spray” that lets “very tiny droplets that stay in the air and kill flying mosquitoes that may carry public health diseases.” The way I am reading that is that the spray sticks around a bit in the air. How long? Who knows?

I called Nassau County this morning and was told that the spraying trucks, which get a police escort, will be driving up and down blocks tonight between 7 p.m. and 2 a.m. The Scourge is blasted out 75 feet on either side of the truck, which means it will be coming right at my house, my windows, my front door. I’m really pissed.

Today, when I dropped Little Girl off at school I asked the director if she will be washing the outside equipment tomorrow. In the morning especially there is dew all over everything and it will intermingle, I assume, with a dose of Scourge. The director said the kids would be staying inside all week because she wouldn’t have time to power wash until the weekend. Sigh. I hated being the bearer of bad news, but I am glad my child, who is constantly touching her nose, eyes, and mouth, will be protected from the Scourge. Of course, the better protection would have been to avoid spraying in the first place.

The sick, crazy part is I just got off the phone with a staffer at Nassau County executive Edward P. Mangano’s office who told me that the county did not want to spray. That they had hoped the mosquitoes would die when we got a frost earlier in the month, but that they got “beaten up” in the press for not spraying. The source also said (and yes, I identified myself as a journalist) that he agreed with my safety concerns and that the chemical “probably” is a carcinogen, and that’s why the office does as much as it can putting out press releases and letting people know about the dangers, but the media and the public just don’t care. And that is the most depressing fact of all.

Most of us probably remember or have used moth balls. Small, smelly white things, they are used to help prevent insect and pest infestation in stored clothing. Carpet beetles, moths, and mice, among other things, hate the smell of moth balls. I do, too, actually, and for good reason. The key ingredient of mothballs is naphthalene or para-dichlorobenzene, which, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), is dangerous stuff. “Inhaling para-dichlorobenzene can lead to vomiting, diarrhea, respiratory distress and other illnesses. Swallowing it can damage the nervous system and, in extreme cases, can cause coma or death.” Oh, and it effects your red blood cells. Here’s the EPA’s product fact sheet on the stuff. Babies and children are especially vulnerable as deaths of preemies and infants have been reported after exposure. Nice.

As usual, the European Union is WAY ahead of the United States when it comes to this dangerous chemical. It banned the pesticide in 2008. The reasoning, of course, is that when you open up clothing stored in moth balls, you are inhaling the pesticide. If you can smell it, you are inhaling it. That’s probably why pediatric doctors in Australia and New Zealand are also trying to get the substance banned.

I totally understand why. I opened up my Space Bags three days ago and almost fell over from the smell. I put both bags outside hoping the smell would dissipate. Today, the smell is still just as strong as it was when I first broke the airtight seal. All those beautiful clothes have been rendered unwearable. I’m not sure what I am going to do. Thankfully, I only used moth balls on the 3T stuff, and decided pretty soon after that moth balls were dangerous and stupid so my 4Ts will be as moth ball-free as the 2T, 18 month, and infant stuff was.

So what’s the take-away? Why should you care? It bears a reminder that just because something is sold at the store doesn’t mean it’s healthy or safe to use, especially around children. Here I thought I was doing something smart, and I was doing something extremely stupid by adding a chemical to clothing that would have gone on my kid’s skin. It’s also a reminder to be especially careful when taking out heirloom or stored clothing that may have been stored with the chemical. Moth balls are bad news. Protect your kids, and protect yourself.

And what about all those gorgeous clothes sitting in my backyard? Yesterday I dumped them into a mesh bag. I’ll check them again next week, however I anticipate I’ll be making a trip to the stores soon. I’m thinking it will be fall (at the earliest) before we’ll be able to use them!

For those who want chemicals in their water.

I’m sure you’ve seen the commercial for MiO, the so-called “water enhancer.” The visually stunning spot starts with the camera focused on a clear glass of water. Suddenly, someone squeezes a few drops of MiO into it. The camera stays on the glass as the dyes and chemicals disperse in the water. The first time I saw it it reminded me of a junior high chemistry class — the one when you learn about concentrates.

My husband saw it for the first time last night. I was in the kitchen cleaning up. “Get in here,” he yelled, incredulous. “You’ve got to see this! It’s flavored food coloring for water!”

He’s right, of course. Today I went to the product’s Facebook page, and checked out the ingredients. Here’s what Kraft Foods Global, the manufacturer, has to say about it:

“MiO is sweetened with Sucralose, a calorie-free, artificial sweetener that is 600 times sweeter than sugar. Generally, non-nutritive sweeteners are calorie free in finished products because they impart high sweetness intensity and are needed only in very small amounts to give desired sweetness to a product. Artificial sweeteners provide sweetness without adding calories to help individuals watching their calorie and sugar intake. To maintain color and freshness, MiO does use certain preservatives and artificial colorings.”

Some, hu? The water additive contains Yellow 5, Yellow 6, Red 40, Blue 1, Malic Acid, and Propylene Glycol. You all know how I feel about artificial colors and sweeteners. I’m not the only one who has problems with the ingredients, either. The folks on the product’s Facebook page have been complaining for a while not only about the artificial colors, but about the use of sucralose and acesulfame potassium — both artificial sweeteners.

One poster wrote:

“Ugh. I was kind of excited about this product until I saw all of the artificial coloring and use of sucralose.*sigh* maybe someday someone will get it right.”

Someone else wrote:

“I see a TON of comments the same as mine about using Stevia, etc. I don’t understand why companies still insist on using these “sugars” when people are becoming more conscious of what they are ingesting! The only reason to do it is for cost…. most of the market still buys soda for $1 a liter over some good ol green tea for much more than that. :0/ So, money is all it’s about I assume.”

Based on this feedback, and the fact that more and more people are waking up to the potential health problems these drinks contribute to, I’m thinking that MiO is going to do as well as New Coke. I predict it will be off the market by the end of the year. In the meantime: Kraft, what is WRONG with your R&D folks? As the many, many comments on your Facebook page confirm, you’d probably have a hit on your hands if you used natural plant-based coloring, natural sweeteners, and natural flavors. People are actually willing to spend money on stuff that tastes good and isn’t bad for them. I know I am.

But that brings me to another question: Why is Kraft pushing the idea that water is boring and needs enhancement? Me, I add a little splash of real fruit juice, or a squeeze of lemon, oranges, or another citrus fruit to my water if I’m in the mood for a little kick. I’m still saving a few bucks, and I get a little vitamin C in the process as well. How about you? What do you think of MiO and the other water additives out there?

This post is how I am participating this week in Real Food Wednesdays and Fight Back Fridays — two awesome campaigns to get people eating real food again.

I’ll give you the quick and dirty summary. Researchers think that triclosan interferes with estrogen sulfotransferase, an enzyme that is linked to the metabolism of estrogen. Estrogen that’s supposed to move through the placenta and help the baby grow. Estrogen that plays a “crucial” role in brain development and the regulation of genes, and helps regulate the amount of oxygen that gets through to the developing fetus.

From the report: “We suspect that makes this substance dangerous in pregnancy if enough of the triclosan gets through to the placenta to affect the enzyme,” said James, a professor and chairwoman of medicinal chemistry in the UF College of Pharmacy. “We know for sure it is a very potent inhibitor. What we don’t know is the kinds of levels you would have to be exposed to to see a negative effect. We know it is a problem, but we don’t know how much of a problem. We need to move forward and do additional studies.”

And the Food and Drug Administration’s response? You know, the FDA that in April said it would be taking another look at triclosan. (Even as other countries and entire continents ban the chemical. The European Union, for example, put a complete ban on Triclosan — anything that might come in contact with food — that goes into effect as of 2011.) Crickets, baby. Crickets. Not a word. Even after earlier this year the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) said it was suing the FDA.

For more than a year I have reported on almost every single triclosan-related event. Every new study. Every annoying fact and figure. And we’re still in a holding pattern. Yeah, I know there are far more important things going on now, but it’s TIME that we step up and contact our FDA and tell them how we feel. How do I feel? It’s time to join the rest of the world and make it impossible for triclosan to cross a placenta. We need our government to protect us. Now! Not sure why? Read one of my first blog posts to learn more.

Want to get involved? You can contact the FDA directly. Check out this link for phone and email info. You should also contact your local congressperson. Here’s a link where you input your state and Zip code. We are the only ones who can affect change. Remember, the chemical lobby spends MILLIONS every year to keep things the way they are. But WE are the ones who vote people in or out of office. We do have power. We do.

I just read an article in the September issue of Oprah Magazine, by editor-in-chief Susan Casey. Ms. Casey wrote about she recently witnessed the devastation caused by the BP oil leak (uh, how about super gush – too big for my mind to truly grasp). A seaplane pilot, wishing to remain anonymous, gave her an aerial tour of the area. Ms. Casey said the pilot was warned not to bring journalists over the area by BP, but he was so disgusted by the mess that he agreed to bring her over the area so we can all get a better picture of what is happening in the Gulf.

The flight plan had to be cleared by the Coat Guard and BP. She reports that three weeks after her visit the US has made it a criminal offense for journalists to be within 65 feet of any clean-up area. The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig spilled out oil the equivalent of the Exxon Valdez spill every four days.

Ms. Casey reports that BP used a dispersant called Corexit 9527 and 9500 to well, disperse, the huge amounts of oil spilled into the rich ecosystem of the Gulf of Mexico. Oprah’s magazine reports that dispersants push the oil deeper into the underwaters of the ocean and scientists have confirmed that large black oil plumes are collecting underneath the surface where we can’t see it as well. Marian Wang, of ProPublica and Mother Jones, reports that Corexit 9527 is linked to red-blood cell rupture, respiratory and blood disorders and kidney and liver damage in the rescue workers of the Valdez clean-up. According to Elaine Shannon, Environmental Editor of the Huffington Post, Nalco, the manufacturer of these products, does not have to reveal the ingredients of these toxic concoctions that are being dumped into our planet’s oceans.

Well, okay, here’s the thing…..the UK has banned the use of Nalco’s Corexit for use in oil spills in its waters. The USA’s EPA still has Corexit on its dispersant list, but according to Greenwire, a professional D.C.-based company reporting on environmental issues, there are other dispersants on the USA EPA list that have been shown to be less toxic and twice as effective. The EPA has approved the Corexit products to be used near the origin of the spill, but not to be used in large quantities. Oprah Magazine reports that BP has used this chemical with abandon in the Gulf or Mexico, spraying it from planes and piping it into the ocean. The Nalco company is interlocked with Exxon and BP business structures.

The Gulf of Mexico is part of our basic food chain. It is home to sperm whales, dolphins, bluefin tuna, billfish, whale sharks, sea turtles,shrimp, snappers, groupers, brown pelicans, and migrating songbirds, waterbirds, ducks and geese. Hundreds of birds and sea turtles, on the endangered species list, have already died. What are the effects of spraying and pumping into this vast ecosystem? How many living creatures will it kill? How many species will be pushed to the brink of extinction? How will this work its way into our food and water supplies?

Well, all I can say is that after my husband was diagnosed with prostate cancer, we took stock of all the BPA chemical we were getting from the food packaged in cans and plastic, and also found on cash register receipts, courtesy of our manufacturers. BPA has been shown to, among other fancy side-effects, disrupt prostate function in rats, increase breast cancer rates with perinatal exposure, and cause neuroblastoma cells to grow.

As a natural as possible mom myself, I wonder how far does buying organic and purchasing water in glass bottles really go? I wonder how the people who run our private corporations can possibly allow these chemicals to continue to be in their products? How can the corporate boards continue to allow production and delivery of products to people that they know are harmful to large amounts of people?

As I look at the pictures of the seabirds and turtles, and think about the intelligent dolphins and whales being suffocated in the ocean, I think about the 30,000 miles I put on my car every year (I do NOT have an SUV) and the amount of oil it takes to heat my house. Amid the work and paying the mortgage and utility bills, all I can think of to do is donate to the Gulf of Mexico environmental cause, research alternative energy cars for my next purchase, research solar energy for my house, and step up my efforts to re-use, recycle and compost. Let me know if you have any other ideas!

The type of mom who, in past years, went through her child’s bag and deemed about three-quarters of it “crap.” The kind that re-gifted her kid’s stash if we ran out of the “good” stuff I buy. (Is there an official word for giving out the Halloween loot your kids bring home?) The one who goes through the candy with the equivalent of a red pencil (my writer friends should get that analogy), all the while calling out, “This has nuts. This has more artificial dye than should be legally allowed. This one is made in China. Out, out, out.” (My BIGGEST pet peeve is people who spend $1 at Dollar Tree on candy that’s all made in China. That stuff, FWIW, will never get re-treated. It goes right in the garbage where it belongs.)

You can probably picture it in your head. We’re there, all dressed up, and Big Girl’s original stash gets smaller and smaller until all that’s left is pencils, dimes, pretzels, chips, Sour Patch Kids, stickers, Play-Doh, and Twizzlers.

I don’t think I am mean, though. Especially given the fact that, once we prune down the stash, I hand it over without a single rule. Big Girl can eat the entire bag in a single night or keep it in her room for a month. It’s her stuff, and she can do with it as she wishes. (She’s a saver, so I usually toss the last of it after Christmas.) But I digress as always…

From the beginning we discussed why we were doing what we were doing. We talked about what constitutes healthy food, and why artificial colors and preservatives are bad for our bodies. We talk about why certain candy coughmadeinChinacough is so cheap and why we pay $5.99 for a pack of organic candy. And then we’d talk about how the Halloween witch was going to stop by and get rid of all the garbage. You know, the one who comes and swaps out bad Halloween treats for good ones? (My friend Christina over at Spoonfed Blog has a longer explanation in her Halloween post.)

Our Halloween witch came in the middle of the night and, for example, left American Girl Bitty Baby dresses in place of the garbage. We did that two years in a row until I decided it was just plain crazy — and Big Girl was old enough to read the packages. Now, she reads everything herself. She’s got it down: The more ingredients you have, the higher the probability that it’s not real food. The longer and more complicated the words, the farther removed you become from pure, healthy food. Garbage food in the garbage pile. Good stuff in the eat at will pile.

This year is going to be interesting, though. I think we’ve got to go back to idea of the Halloween witch since we’ve got Little Girl to contend with. Resourceful, headstrong, pushy Little Girl. The child who drags Little Tikes chairs around my house so she can grab things off of counters and tabletops. The same one who is also allergic to chocolate. I’m planning on having a bag full of Little Girl-friendly treats waiting for us when we get home: Z Bars, Pirates Booty, stickers, pretzels, Cheddar Bunnies, organic lollipops, raisins. I will hand her that bag and go off and hide the real one until after she goes to sleep. And I’ll ask Big Girl to refrain from looking in her bag until after the little one is in her crib.

I’m sure many people think I am crazy. (Although I personally think it’s crazier to let your kids eat treats that come from China.) But I don’t. This works for our family. My kid gets plenty of candy, plenty of cookies. She’s not deprived. And the little one will, too, this year. It’s just our kind of junk food. Nothing scary about that!

This post is how I am participating this week in Real Food Wednesdays and Fight Back Fridays — two awesome campaigns to get people eating real food again.

I really thought about my purchase. Yes, I could buy a half-pound of turkey, a head of lettuce and a tomato and make it myself. But here’s the thing: It just tastes better when the nice deli guy makes it for me. He uses far more turkey than I’d use. He has a perfect amount of mixed lettuce greens to balance the bright, thinly cut tomatoes. He sprinkles just the right amount of salt and pepper on it, too. The rolls come from the in-house bakery. I’ve often sat there and watched the pastry chef mixing up a new batch of something fluffy, seeing the eggs and the flour go into the large mixing bowl.

You know that cheap $4.99 hero? It’s not as good. The lettuce is iceburg; there are no leafy greens to be seen. The rolls come out of a big bag. They weren’t freshly baked the same morning. Even the turkey seems of a lesser quality.

So, was my sandwich worth the extra $1 or so? Absolutely. I put less food into my body, but the food that went in was high quality. I’m lucky I can make this decision. There are an awful lot of people out there who, because of finances, have to make an even harder choice: buy something off the $.99 menu at some fast food joint or skip lunch all together.

And what’s in that $.99 menu choice? Let’s take a random item off the McDonald’s menu: The 360-calorie McChicken sandwich. Here’s what’s in it:

McChicken Patty: Chicken, water, salt, sodium phosphates. Battered and breaded with: bleached wheat four, water, wheat flour, food starch-modified, salt, spices, partially hydrogenated soybean oil and cottonseed oil with mono -and diglycerides, egg whites, wheat gluten, paprika, dextrose, leavening (sodium acid pyrophosphate, baking soda, monocalcium phosphate, ammonium bicarbonate), garlic powder, yeast, natural flavor (plant source), extractives of paprika. Prepared in vegetable oil (Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with TBHQ and citric acid added to preserve freshness). Dimethylpolysiloxane added as an antifoaming agent.

Regular Bun: Enriched flour (bleached wheat flour, malted barley flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid, enzymes), water, high fructose corn syrup, sugar, yeast, soybean oil and/or partially hydrogenated soybean oil, contains 2% or less of the following: salt, calcium sulfate, calcium carbonate, wheat gluten, ammonium sulfate, ammonium chloride, dough conditioners (sodium stearoyl lactylate, datem, ascorbic acid, azodicarbonamide, mono- and diglycerides, ethoxylated monoglycerides, monocalcium phosphate, enzymes, guar gum, calcium peroxide, soy flour), calcium propionate and sodium propionate (preservatives), soy lecithin.

Mayonnaise Dressing: Water, soybean oil, distilled vinegar, maltodextrin, food starch-modified, enzyme modified egg yolk, salt, sugar, xanthan gum, mustard flour, potassium sorbate (preservative), lemon juice concentrate, polysorbate 80, natural flavor (animal source), calcium disodium EDTA to protect flavor, beta carotene (color).

All those ingredients for $.99? And you know they must be making some sort of profit. How can this be? And an even more important question: Why would you want any of that in your body or — even worse — your child’s body. (And, BTW, buying McDonald’s may not even be cheaper. At least that’s what another smart blogger found out when she figured out how much it costs to cook at home versus buying McDonald’s for a family of four. Scroll down past the yummy-sounding recipe if you click through…)

Anyway, digressing as always: I won’t stand here and condemn anyone for eating their McChicken sandwich because that’s all they could afford. (I will make a wish that some day soon everyone will be able to have access to healthy, fresh foods regardless of their income.) But for anyone who can afford to make a different choice I ask: Aren’t you and your health worth the extra couple of bucks?

This post is how I am participating this week in Real Food Wednesdays, an awesome campaign to get people thinking about and eating real food. Would love to hear about your lunch. What did you have? Was it worth the time and effort?

Pears from Concentrate, Sugar, Dried Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup, Modified Corn Starch, Fructose, Grape Juice from Concentrate. Contains 2% or less of Partially Hydrogenated Cottonseed Oil, Malodextrin, Cottonseed Oil, Citric Acid, Carrageenan, Glycerin, Monoglycerides, Sodium Citrate, Malic Acide, Potassium Citrate, Vitamin C (ascorbic acid), Agar-Agar, Natural and Artificial Flavor, Xanthan Gum, Color (red 40, blue 1, yellow 5).

Uggg. We usually buy Fruitabu. The ingredients:

Apple puree concentrate, natural lemon juice concentrate, natural apple flavor.

And you know what? My kid likes — no, loves — the Fruitabu. So what’s the need for all that other garbage? I’ll tell you: it’s cheaper, so you can turn a better profit. It’s also sweeter so you can hook the kid in and get them wanting more.

That’s why I was not only happy but surprised when — while browsing at Target — I saw a “natural-ized” version of the traditional Fruit Rollups: Simply Fruit Rollups. Could it be because the company is being sued in a class action lawsuit that alleges General Mills made “misleading health claims?” Who knows. But I am so impressed with the new version of the product that I actually bought it! I want to do a side-by-side taste test between Fruitabus and the new General Mills Simply Fruit Roll-Ups. Here’s the ingredients, taken directly from the packaging:

Apple Juice Concentrate, Dried Apples, Blackberry Puree, Strawberry Puree, Canola Oil. Contains 2% or less of: Fruit Pectin, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Vitamin C (ascorbic acid), Black Carrot Juice Concentrate and Blueberry Juice Concentrate Added for Color, Natural Flavor, Citric Acid, and Sodium Sulfite Added to Protect Color.

Yes, I could do without the preservatives and the oil, but not bad compared to the original version. Definitely a big improvement!

This post is how I am participating this week in Food Renegade’s Fight Back Fridays — an awesome campaign to get people eating real food again. What do you think of the packaged snacks that are out there? What do you give your kids?