animation by Judy Wilken/Evan Thompson/ music by Dr. Les Peterson

Our children are the real victims of the bottom line where the 'crack dwellers' reside. 'Crack dwellers' are those who gain by hurting others.

There's nothing more inefficient and wasteful than market! Read the following articles.

Cafeteria Kickbacks

Breaking News: Sodexo to Pay New York $20 Million for School Rebate Fraud

It's the system that has to be fixed. Hide and watch. More states will discover millions of dollars that have not been paid to the schools by food service companies.These companies live for the 'bottom line'. These companies are made up of 'crack dwellers'. 'Crack dwellers' are those who make money at the expence of others.

And so it goes. Write your congressman now and inform him/her of this dubious rebate program and how much it is costing our schools and our families in health care costs.

Gaming the system: "The rebate system, endemic to the industry, works like this: A food management company like Sodexo signs contracts to run a client’s cafeteria. The company buys supplies from vendors such as Coke, Kellogg’s or Tyson. Then, chosen vendors send the management company rebates based on a percentage of sales."

831-624-8977

Carmel, California

831-626-0430

Carmel, California

Hamburgers are the Hummers of food in global warming

It takes 616 gallons of water to produce each beef patty!

When it comes to global warming, hamburgers are the Hummers of food, scientists say.
Simply switching from steak to salad could cut as much carbon as leaving the car at home a couple days a week. By looking at everything from how much grain a cow eats before it is ready for slaughter to the emissions released by manure, they are getting a clearer idea of the true costs of food.

Making America Fat: It’s Not the Burger, it’s the Bun

Ed Bruske from The Slow Cook has a great article about the problem with eating carbs. "This country really needs to drop the hysteria about fat and start a national conversation on insulin and its relationship with obesity, diabetes, and heart disease."

Fatty Foods -- Not Empty Stomach -- Fire Up Hunger Hormone

Listen up parents Without dietary fats, ghrelin peaks remain inactive and don't affect storage of fat. Ghrelin is a hormone produced by the stomach and, by signalling in the brain, increases hunger.

Add Spices To Your Burger To Reduce Cancer Risk

Is there a restaurant in your town that serves hamburgers that are safe? Write the chef of your favorite hamburger joint and tell him/her about this recent scientific finding. If the chef is unaware of what spices can do for grilled meat, then educate the chef. It takes only one letter and a few visits to the restaurant for any chef with any common sense to 'get it' and begin using spices on grilled meat. If the chef refuses to acknowledge the finding, stop patronizing the restaurant. It is a matter of either 'getting it' or 'not getting it!

Whoops!

Turkey and Vegetable Burgers

Exercise Suppresses Appetite By Affecting Appetite Hormones

This one molecule is a major player to loosing fat. Keep your eye out for info on ghrelin, the stomach hormone that signals the brain to ring the 'hunger' bell. Remember, this same hormone increases significantly in the blood when you eat fatty foods. Don't feed your child fatty foods.

Food game that works

Kaiser Permanente has created a game that does engage a young mind immediately. It challenges a child to focus on good eating from the very beginning. Just open up this game and leave your child alone for a while. Let him/her play. Say nothing about anything. Allow his/her focus to deepen as he/she manipulates the different food groups in the game.

Chasing The Flavor Train

Click on graphic to learn more:

The Best Burger Under $10? You Tell Us!

Ed Bruske of The Slow Cook has devoted many hours of his time to clarifying healthy eating in schools. We are indebted to this one teacher for his honesty. We find his site invaluable, giving us resources for untangling the healthy eating issues in public schools.

Ed Bruske writes of his recent harvest of his potatos, "Having a hill is fun, because you can move the soil out of the way from the side and see the potatoes growing before you actually harvest them. (Just replace the soil and let them continue growing.)"

Do you overeat?

"A fascinating account of the science of human appetite, as well as its exploitation by the food industry. THE END OF OVEREATING is an invaluable contribution to the national conversation about the catastrophe that is the modern American diet."

Excerpt: The End Of Overeating

Foods rich in sugar and fat are relatively recent arrivals on the food landscape, Dr. Kessler noted. But today, foods are more than just a combination of ingredients. They are highly complex creations, loaded up with layer upon layer of stimulating tastes that result in a multisensory experience for the brain. Food companies “design food for irresistibility,” Dr. Kessler noted. “It’s been part of their business plans.”

Could Our Minds Be Tricked Into Satisfying Our Stomachs?

...the key to losing weight could lie in manipulating our beliefs about how filling we think food will be before we eat it, suggesting that portion control is all a matter of perception.

Two Years Old -- A Childhood Obesity Tipping Point?

Paving the way for disease and an early death! This is not a healthy baby.

How the Food Makers Captured Our Brains

Click to learn more: In this groundbreaking investigation of the insatiable American appetite, Dr. David Kessler explains why we eat more than we need to and what we can do to stop the vicious and unhealthy cycle of overeating.

Beyond “Museum” Gardens

“Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day, teach him how to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.” Jesse Kurtz-Nicholl writes, "Gardens that exist as exhibitions to only be looked and talked about will not move us anywhere close to where we need to go." We agree with Jesse that the issues of 'garden in every school' and 'healthy eating' are becoming steroidal. We know what we need to drive this package of good intentions toward a reasonable and lasting nutritional path for our children. And we at StarChild Science are creating it. Watch for our Hear the Call Healthy Living Poster which is coming out soon!

REVIEWS

"...uncovers some of the “hidden persuaders” that cause us to overeat, and offers simple strategies to help us stop. "

Monterey Farmers Markets

fennel, prosciutto and pomegranate salad

click on graphics to learn more

Anti-inflammatory Effects Of Pomegranate In Rabbits: A Potential Treament In Humans?

Inflammation is always present in cancer conditions. When blood samples collected from rabbits fed pomegranate extract inhibited inflammation this news spread rapidly among the nutritionists and laboratory scientists. "Plasma collected from rabbits following ingestion of pomegranate extract contained significantly higher levels of antioxidants than samples collected before ingestion of pomegranate extract; the extract also significantly reduced the activity of proteins that cause inflammation, specifically cyclooxygenase-2." This work was done by Case Western Reserve University, Department of Medicine.

"Current treatment with anti-inflammatory drugs can have serious side effects following long-term use. Further research is needed, however, especially on the absorption of orally ingested substances into the blood," Dr. Tariq Haqqi states.

Visit Matthew's blog

Such a rich piece of literature--- Check out the recipes in this little book. The Pad Thai is just one of the healthiest recipes in the book and one that all children should be introduced to. There are so many ingredients you can put into this dish. Experiment! Gently coax your child to participate and ask for recommendations of different ingredients as well. We call this kind of recipe an 'empowering recipe' because it helps a child feel respected when their suggestions are valued.

Click on graphic: Pad Thai recipe is in Matthew's book Hungry Monkey

CHOPPED CHICKEN MANGO SALAD

Bahama Billy's Island Steakhouse

Carmel, California

831-626-0430

This is the best menu around for fresh salads that surprise you with mangos, pineapple, nuts, and fresh ginger. Their seafood creations are also highly recommended.

...Food 2.0 is probably one of very few books on fast healthy cooking that is worth reading;...

Review

Charles Ayers web site

Is eating out healthy?

Michael Bauer of Between Meals in the San Francisco Chronicle writes about the healthfulness in eating out in the Bay Area. "One of the biggest misconceptions about dining out is that it inevitably compromises healthful eating."

Burpee, Baker Creek Heirlooms talk seed catalogs

...in Burpee’s “new and exclusive” arsenal this year are the ‘Twice as Nice’ hybrid melon, the ‘Snack Pack’ (“personal size”) watermelon, the ‘Ristra Cayenne’ hybrid hot pepper, the Pinot Noir hybrid sweet pepper and several strains of corn.

Waste Peel From Pomegranate Juice Factories Makes Healthy Cattle Feed

fennel, prosciutto and pomegranate salad

Smitten kitchen does it again!

CliffsNotes to the food revolution

The co-founder of Bitch magazine talks about living the Michael Pollan way and the gender politics of the kitchen

Salinas Farmers Markets

Animation of the green dragon seen on this page from time to time is licensed to StarChild Science by "animated.gif(c)KittyRoach"