Heirloom Seeds - Ever Taste a Tomato Grown for Flavor Instead of Transport?

(This is a slightly modified re-post from April, 2008)

In between discussions of high blood pressure, and the upcoming dreaded first colonoscopy, those of us of the “I owned an 8-track once” generation, will sometimes sit around reminiscing about the good old days. One sunny spring afternoon recently, amidst the usual memories of the firsts- first communion, first part time job, first kiss…- one of my friends looked up at the sky, big puffy white clouds rolling by, and said “Remember the tomatoes?”

We sucked on our frozen margaritas and fell silent.

Ahhh, yes, the tomatoes of summer from the local farm stand, or if you were even luckier , your own family garden, where you would pick one off the vine, and later sit on your back steps with your father, a tomato in one hand and the salt shaker in the other, and take a bite out of what had to be positively the best tomato in the world- or so your father said.

Now, tomatoes just don’t taste like they used to. I couldn’t even grow a good tasting tomato last summer. I diligently fertilized and watered three plants. The tomatoes sure looked great. But they tasted like grocery store tomatoes in February- bred for longevity, transport and the flavor of cardboard.

I bought my seedlings at the local nursery. Not this year. I’ll be buying heirloom tomato plants through the mail. Bred to test like a tomato, not the package they come in.

The largest provider of tomato seeds- and all seeds -to the commercial agricultural farmers these days is Monsanto Agrochemical. The seeds are genetically engineered(GE) to meet commercial grower’s needs for a sturdy, pest and drought resistant tomato. Notice flavor is not a Monsanto criteria.

There’s something inherently unnatural about one of the largest toxic chemicals manufacturers in the world now also being the world’s major seed - and therefore food- supplier.

And Monsanto is so big, they have been systematically buying up their smaller competition, now totally controlling the seed market.

Luckily, there are alternatives. A growing number of traditionalists are starting organizations around the world such as The Seed Saver’s Exchange. Their purpose is to protect heirloom varieties of fruits and vegetables for future generations.

Thank goodness.

I wonder if some day Monsanto will decide to genetically engineer the flavor back into the tomato?

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Taking Time for Your Health Pays Off

My spouse has decided we”re going to Bootcamp for Goddesses in August.  I was informed of this while sitting on the couch eating ice cream with Pete.

“Do they have ice cream there,” I asked?

“You have 5 months to get ready,” I was reminded.

My winter hibernation has come to a screeching halt.

I know in the long run this is good for me.  Lower blood pressure, lower health bills.

“Don’t you want to be able to move when you’re 80?”

“Pass the cookies,” the sloth replies.

Eating Healthy Without Being Wealthy - Dark Chocolate and Red Wine Have More in Common Than You Think

Dark chocolate and red wine have more in common than you think.  It’s all about their Flavonoids - a clan of polyphenolic compounds that pack a powerful antioxidant punch.  Antioxidants eat free radicals, and free radicals cause many age related degenerative diseases such as cancer and heart disease.

Dark Chocolate - The darker the better.

Dark chocolate, but not milk chocolate, or dark chocolate eaten with milk, according to a recent Web MD article.  Recent evidence shows that milk puts a roadblock on much of the adsorption of the powerful antioxidants that chocolate is laden with.

Also, milk chocolate typically has only 15 percent to 25 percent cocoa.  Dr. Sheeler of the Mayo Clinic says that to gain the health benefits, the chocolate must contain at least 60% cocoa.  Dark chocolate tends to have 50 percent to 80-plus percent cocoa.

“No need to eat a whole chocolate bar,” says Dr. Sheeler.  “30 calories of dark chocolate per day provide you with all the health benefits.  And no need to buy the priciest brands.”

You just want to stay away from the really cheap brands which are stripped of the flavonols during processing.

Web MD describes one example of how flavonols work in A Dark Chocolate a Day Keeps the Doctor Away::

“Epicatechin is a particularly active member of a group of over [6000] compounds called plant flavonoids. Flavonoids keep cholesterol from gathering in blood vessels, reduce the risk of blood clots, and slow down the immune responses that lead to clogged arteries.”

So be a good do-be, and eat your fruits, vegetables and chocolate.

Red Wine - It’s in the red.

White wine is called the “white bread” wine when it comes to health benefits.

From Science Daily, Mar,2008:

“Researchers showed for the first time that a natural antioxidant found in  purple grape skins and red wine can help destroy pancreatic cancer cells by reaching to the cell’s core energy source, or mitochondria, and crippling its function.”

Graph of Antioxidant Activity

Antioxidant Activity is reported as Oxygen Radical Adsorbance Capacity (ORAC) of various foods. Note that since this chart was published in 2004, milk chocolate has been removed from the list due to the negating milk effect and low cocoa content.

Where else are flavonoids found?

In a ubiquitous  variety of inexpensive common foods such as tea, soy products, and many fruits and vegetables.  Western populations consume an average of 150-200 mgs per day.  Mediterranean diets top the list of cultural diets containing higher levels.

Here’s the top ten fruits, vegetables, and legumes:

Apples, apricots, blueberries, pears, raspberries, strawberries, black beans, cabbage, onions, parsley, pinto beans, and tomatoes.

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Wednesday Night Yoga

Had someone whispered “avoid high impact sports” in my ear years ago, I would’ve ignored them.  My young body let all that running feel sooo good.  I lived for the runner’s high, the game winning hit, the drive to the net.  I would play injured “for the team.”

At 50 it’s all catching up with me.  If someone whispered in my ear now, I wouldn’t hear them.  I take ibuprofen like a daily vitamin.  My joints and back are not bending.  My “sliding” knee let’s me know when a storm is coming.

So, as my senior years approach, I have graduated to yoga.

I’m told that yoga, unlike many western sports, doesn’t take away in impact as much as it gives in health benefits.  That I’ll love it.  That it’s like meditation.

On this advice, I committed to ten weeks of Wednesday night classes.  Tonight’s my fourth week - the first week I’m looking forward to it.  It’s been shear torture.  My instructor assures me that’s a sign that I really need it.  I know I need something.

But I’ve also started feeling its positive affects.

So much so that I slipped into a few extra classes over the weekend.  Of course, my Downward Dog doesn’t look quite like the instructor’s Downward Dog.  But I’m starting to love it anyway.

Go figure.

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Hot Flash: I’m Turning 50

There’s 28 days to go, now.  But, hey, who’s counting?!

My latest discoveries:

Hot Flash Barbie - Press Barbie’s bellybutton and watch her face turn beet red while tiny drops of perspiration appear on her forehead. Comes with hand-held fan and tiny tissues.

Hot Flash Pajamas - The article - in the NY Times, no less - starts out with, “As fashion trends go, hot flash pajamas are not glamorous.”

That ought to sell a lot of pajamas.

Other observations:

Sayings that I’ve heard since childhood have taken on a whole new meaning.

• “I’ve fallen and I can’t get up.”
• “Drop dead.”
• “No-brainer.”
• “Out of sight, out of mind.”
• “Bad Hair Day.”
• “A fool’s paradise.”
• “A little bird told me.”
• “Keep your chin up.”
• “Age before beauty.”
• “You’ve come a long way baby.”
• “A legend in one’s own lifetime.”

Guys in their twenties look at me as a mother figure.

Random acts of kindness really works.

I make a lot more lists.

I’m one of the oldest at the family weddings.

The “gene advantage” is real. 

For example,  I have a lot less gray hair then people my age, but this is balanced out by the fact that I’ll be deaf as a doorknob by the time I hit 70.

Maybe I need an attitude adjustment, but bite me.

I’m 50, and I can say anything I d#$#%m well please.

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Countdown to 50

OK, I’m a little obsessed with the idea that I’m turning 50 in 50 days.  That saying “You’re not getting older, you’re getting better” is hogwash.  My body is falling apart.

Here are some famous musicians/actors that are turning 50 this year.  The ones who can afford plastic surgery.

Michael Jackson (definitely falling apart.)

Madonna ( she claims her spiritual age is 36 )

Prince

Ellen Degeneres (who just joined the Married Club, after living in sin for 4 years, by the way)

Alec Baldwin (which baldwin is he, again?)

Jamie Lee Curtis (have you seen her picture on the cover of the May issue of AARP magazine?  One word: topless.)

Michelle Pfeiffer

Kevin Bacon (still hot.)

Sharon Stone

Ice-T

Prince Albert

Holly Hunter

Andie McDowell

Tim Robbins (remember Shawshank Redemption?)

The Peace Symbol turns 50 this year.
Not an actor, but worth mentioning.

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Pushing Fifty. We Carry a Big Stick.

I’ll be an official AARP member in two months. That means I’ll be 50. I can go kicking and screaming but, other than possibly pulling my back out, what’s the point?

Time to accept.

So, getting into the spirit of it, I borrowed my (over-50-I-won’t-say-by-how-much) spouse’s copy of this month’s AARP magazine. We have a subscription.

One of the articles in the magazine is entitled “50 reasons to love being 50+“. 50, sheesh, are there really that many reasons? By the time I finish reading them I’ll be 51. Actually I did read them, and I found a lot that were similar to each other, so I don’t think there are really 50 reasons. Maybe by the time they were writing 40-50 they had forgotten 1-10.
I did find reasons 30-35 pretty good, especially with the November election. Here they are:

“30. 41 percent of American adults are over 50, the highest percentage in U.S. history.

31. 80 percent of Congress is over 50.

32. Half of the Americans who voted in the 2006 elections were 50+.

33. People over 55 own 77 percent of all financial assets in the United States.

34. 50+ adults account for 45 percent of U.S. consumer spending, or $2.1 trillion per year.

35. By 2011 the American 50+ population will surpass the 100 million mark.”

We over 50 people carry a big stick!

Any thoughts on aging out there? Is it something you ever think about?

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