Carefree Gourmet

Did you know cumin and parsley were related? I didn’t! I keep it stocked in my pantry to make chili and curry dishes and never thought once about where it came from. It is used widely in Middle Eastern, Turkish, African, Asian and Mexican cuisines. It is grown for it’s seeds although I must say, I have always used ground.

Like many spices, cumin has been used medicinally for centuries. It has been used to treat stomach ailments, nausea and as a diuretic. Further research has also shown a benefit for enhancing insulin sensitivity, important for diabetics.

Cumin is widely used in traditional Ayurvedic medicine in India for the treatment of dyspepsia and diarrhea. It is an astringent herb that is recognized as an appetite stimulant, and helps control flatulence. Cumin has antispasmodic activity and helps with minor digestive problems. Cumin seeds are noted to be rich in important minerals such as calcium, magnesium, iron, and zinc, as well as some of the B vitamins. Cumin also has the ability to enhance insulin sensitivity. In a limited number of studies, cumin seeds have been reported to be hypoglycemic. Cuminaldehyde, found in cumin seeds, has an inhibitory activity towards glucose metabolism and shows promise as an anti-diabetic agent.

Cumin was seen to normalize blood glucose levels when fed to diabetic rats for 6 weeks. It also produced a significant reduction in the blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels. Cumin is being tested further to see whether its blood glucose lowering properties (similar to the action of an oral hypoglycemic drug) is useful for managing diabetes in humans. According to Winston Craig, MPH, PhD, RD.

In all my research about the health qualities of cumin and why I should get a regular dose in my food I found the most interesting to be from James A Duke, Ph.D. Why? Well, girls, if you could naturally increase the size of your bosom, would you? Many of us would! Well, according to Duke, cumin has been shown to increase the number of mammary cells in laboratory animals. Although the effect on human’s is unknown, mammals tend to have similar reactions to compounds with mammary effects. So, I may be using it a bit more liberally in my cooking…. how about you? Cumin also has anti bacterial properties – 11 natural chemicals so you may use it to kill bacteria that cause body odor. Now, I am not suggesting that you rub some ground cumin under your arms (it might get on your clothes) but you could make a tea of cumin and other BO fighting herbs and after soaking a cloth in the tea apply it as a compress under your arm. Or you could add it to your bath ritual. And finally, Duke and a fellow colleague from the US Department of Agriculture, Stephen Beckstrom-Sternberb, Ph.D. discovered three pain-relieving compounds, seven that are anti-inflammatory and four that combat swelling. So if you are suffering from pain and swelling, spice up your food with more cumin!

A few more tidbits about cumin from historical references…..Romans and Greeks drank cumin in tea form as they thought it would support a pale complexion (not exactly popular today but obviously was once considered ideal). Cumin was thought to keep chickens from wandering away, was used to show happiness on newlyweds, and kept on the table, like black pepper, as a seasoning to prepared foods.

Cumin seeds must be toasted, otherwise, they have an earthy, sour unpleasant smell. The seeds are usually ground to be added to soups, stews, meats, vegetables and grains. Left whole, the seeds are added to cheeses, drinks, liqueurs, marinades, brines and pickling solutions. Cumin has a very strong flavor and needs to be used carefully when cooking as it can easily overwhelm a delicate flavor.

I am working on a spice rub for our Hot and Spicy Valentine’s day party and it includes cumin. I think I will have another serving for dinner tonight….

Well, researching the benefits of cardamom has been a bit challenging. There are all sorts of claims, from improving digestion, relieving gas, stimulating metabolism, treating halatosis…. the list goes on. But only two sources of information appeared credible to me. Dr. Perricone simply stated that cardamom provided anti-oxidant protection. But he never stated how much you needed to consume. James A. Duke, PHd, recommends cardamom for treating a sore throat or laryngitis. This is because cardamom is the richest source of cineole which is both anti-laryngitic and anti-pharyngtic. Ok, I had to look those words up! They simply mean good for a sore throat or laryngitis! One article also suggested that cineole helps break up chest congestion. So I suppose the best way to take cardamom if you have a sore throat is through tea. Although a chai latte may sound good, dairy is never recommended when you have a throat condition or a cold!

I keep cardamom on hand for my hot spiced chai drink and rice pudding. If you would like recipes using cardamom seeds, sign up for our newsletter at www.carefreegourmet.com and once you do, you will have access to all of our recipe archives. Check out the January 2010 Indian Flavors party.

Garbanzo beans (also known as chickpeas or Bengal gram) are one of the three most important pulses in the world! They are used extensively in the cuisines of many countries. I have enjoyed chickpeas in chili, stews, curries, on salads and most especially made into hummus. In fact, I have included my recipe for hummus below. I spread it on everything and am delighted that chickpeas are so good for you!

They have been around for over 7,500 years traced back to Hacilar, Turkey. The made their way into the Mediterranean in 4000 BCE and on to India by 2000 BCE. They were brought to the New World by the Spanish and Portuguese but never became as popular there as in other countries.

A chickpea is a legume and an excellent source of the trace mineral manganese, which is an essential nutrient for both energy production and antioxidant defenses. They are also a low-glycemic-index food (which means they won’t spike sugar levels in the blood which is especially important for diabetics or those on their way to becoming diabetic). They are rich in folic acid, potassium, zinc, iron, folate and soluble fiber. In fact, one cup of chickpeas will give you 15 grams of fiber. This little legume gets 25% of its calories from protein and is high in calcium and vitamin C. They are low in fat, calories and sodium. The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Guide Pyramid has chickpeas in two important places: the first is with high-protein foods such as meat, eggs, poultry and fish, and the second is with vitamin-rich vegetables. Chickpeas protect against heart disease, colon cancer, and circulatory problems. Who knew chickpeas were so good for you??

So toss some chickpeas into your soup, stews, salads, casseroles and curries. Better yet, make a homemade hummus that you can season to your tastes. Serve on sprouted tortillas, fresh veggies or pita bread.

Ingredients

4 cups garbanzo beans, drained
1/4 cup tahini paste (ground sesame)
1/4 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon chopped jalapeño chile (optional)
1 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 tablespoon sea salt

Although you can use a blender to make hummus, I think you can blend it better in a food processor. You will really want to smooth out the consistency and break down the garbanzo beans. Mix all the ingredients together. I play with the tahini and olive oil to get the right consistency and taste. Be careful not to put in too much lemon, don’t just squeeze it in, measure. Otherwise you will be fighting that tart flavor. Store hummus in an airtight container. I prefer to use glass storage containers. When serving, top with more olive oil and paprika.

I love cinnamon. Once my Mom taught us how to make cinnamon toast I was hooked! And it has been a staple in my pantry ever since. I grew up thinking cinnamon only went into sweet dishes; cookies, rice pudding, mulled ciders etc. But alas, it is used widely in savory dishes in other cuisines.

Cinnamon dates back to 2000 BCE, making it one of the first known spices. It originated in Sri Lanka and was burned as incense, taken medicinally and used in the embalming process. And of course, is widely used in culinary fare. Cinnamon is the bark of the cinnamon tree and is cultivated by pruning a tree that can grow up to 56 feet severely producing numerous shoots that are then stripped of their bark.

Again, I was shocked to learn about the medicinal value in cinnamon, especially for people with diabetes. Research has shown that cinnamon stimulates insulin receptors and helps increase the cells ability to use glucose. Now this is exciting for people suffering from adult-onset diabetes where cinnamon may significantly normalize their blood sugar levels. According to Dr. Perricone, less than half a teaspoon per day of cinnamon reduces blood sugar levels in those with adult-onset diabetes. It has also been found to reduce cholesterol and triglyceride levels as well. Cinnamon also helps to reduce inflammation, is effective in preventing oxidation, and is used by ayurvedic and traditional Chinese medicine in treating colds and flu due to its warming qualities. Simply smelling cinnamon enhances the brain’s cognitive processing, including attention, memory, and visual-motor speed, (Dr. Perricone, The Perricone Promise).

Its getting a little chilly on this January afternoon…. a chai tea latte with a cinnamon stick sounds really good right now. I need to go find cardamon pods……

Ever have heartburn? That terrible burning sensation? Or how about nausea? Ginger is another ingredient in recipes that I never knew had so many health benefits. According to Dr. Andrew Weil, ginger can also be taken to treat arthritis, bursitis; motion sickness, relief of chest congestion; and is a natural anti-inflammatory agent. It has also been documented to successfully treat bacterial dysentery, malaria, coughs and migranes. Ginger extracts have been found to improve blood cholesterol levels, elevated low blood pressure and prevent cancer in animals. It has also been found helpful in treating pain and fever as well and colds and flu viruses. (Edible, National Geographic)

Historically, ginger has been used in cooking and for medicinal purposes dating back to ancient civilizations. Its use has been documented back to 650 BCE (according to Edible, National Geographic). Numerous cultures embraced this rhizome including the Egyptians, Roman and Greek empires as well as the peoples of Southeast Asia and Ancient China. In fact, during the 13th and 14th centuries it was one of the most commonly traded spice across Europe. And even though ginger is one of the few spices to have virtually all of its medicinal claims verified, American doctors tend to be unaware of these studies.

When you were a child, did your mom give you ginger ale when you stomach bothered you? See, your mom did know best! Be sure to look for ginger ale with ginger in it. If you can’t find it, you can make your own with ginger syrup and seltzer water. Ginger comes in many forms including crystallized , powdered , honey based syrups, and fresh all of which have health properties. Dried ginger actually has more powerful anti-inflammatory properties than fresh. Therefore, you might want to use more than one form of ginger in your diet. I especially like ginger tea and a local Thai restaurant that my friend Lori and I frequent make a wonderful ginger tea. I have tried making it at home, but it never tastes quite a good! I nibble on crystallized ginger, although it can be quite pungent, it satisfies the sweet tooth. I cook with fresh ginger and find that I keep a piece in my refrigerator. It will last quite some time! Check out our sweet potato chicken curry dish which includes ginger. Yum!

While ginger is non-toxic and you cannot consume too much, be aware of taking the powdered form on an empty stomach. According to Dr. Andrew Weil, it may actually cause heartburn!

How can a spice be a superfood? Why does Dr. Andrew Weil, Dr. Nicholas Perricone, and Oprah all praise this little spice best known for seasoning up curry dishes and making our well known hot dog topping, mustard, yellow? It is one of the best natural anti-inflammatories you can consume right next to ginger! And in fact, it is part of the ginger family. It is Turmeric!

It has an interesting history, dating back 4000 years used as a coloring for fabric, paper, wood, skin and food. It was first used by the Vedic culture in India as a culinary spice for religious ceremonies. It was used as a substitute for the very expensive saffron spice, even though it is not in the same family of spices strictly because it was both yellow and cheap! Medicinally it has been used by ayurvedic physicians to treat gastrointestinal and inflammatory ailments as well as applied topically to enhance skin health and tone. Topical ointments have been used in India to “treat joint pain, bruises, and a variety of skin disorders including infections, inflammation, blemishes, wounds, acne, boils, burns and eczema.” (Dr. Nicholas Perricone, The Perricone Promise

One of the special components of turmeric that is the antioxidant wonder is curcumin, which scientist refer to as curcuminoids. Curduminoids may prevent oxidation of blood fats better than synthetic antioxidant BHT based on test tube studies. Turmeric also contains a peptide called turmerine, a free-radical scavenger. And in studies where animals were fed curcuminoids, they found higher blood levels of glutathione-S-transferase, a key player in the body’s detoxification system.

What I found even more remarkable is that James A Duke, PhD, a highly respected ethnobotanist, identified turmeric as a better solution to preventing and alleviating serious diseases of Alzheimer’s, Arthritis, and Cancer than traditional pharmaceuticals!

* Alzheimer’s disease: Duke found more than 50 studies on turmeric’s effects in addressing Alzheimer’s disease. The reports indicate that extracts of turmeric contain a number of natural agents that block the formation of beta-amyloid, the substance responsible for the plaques that slowly obstruct cerebral function in Alzheimer’s disease.
* Arthritis: Turmeric contains more than two dozen anti-inflammatory compounds, including six different COX-2-inhibitors (the COX-2 enzyme promotes pain, swelling and inflammation; inhibitors selectively block that enzyme). By itself, writes Duke, curcumin – the component in turmeric most often cited for its healthful effects – is a multifaceted anti-inflammatory agent, and studies of the efficacy of curcumin have demonstrated positive changes in arthritic symptoms.
* Cancer: Duke found more than 200 citations for turmeric and cancer and more than 700 for curcumin and cancer. He noted that in the handbook Phytochemicals: Mechanisms of Action, curcumin and/or turmeric were effective in animal models in prevention and/or treatment of colon cancer, mammary cancer, prostate cancer, murine hepatocarcinogenesis (liver cancer in rats), esophageal cancer, and oral cancer. Duke said that the effectiveness of the herb against these cancers compared favorably with that reported for pharmaceuticals. Dr. Andrew Weil, DrAndrewWeil.com

There is so much more information about the significant value of turmeric on the body that I could practically write a book! But I can’t, Pam and I already are busy doing just that! Bottom line, you want to add turmeric to your spice rack and USE it!! Our curry recipe is just one of the many recipes available that use this spice. Google it and get cooking!

Chicken, chicken and more chicken. For those of us who gave up on red meat, chicken became the source of our protein. It is lean, once the external fat is removed, can be prepared a bagillion different ways (yes, that is a made up word), can be found at any market and has been touted by the “experts” as a much better choice than beef, pork, duck etc. The only protein to get better reviews was fish. But that’s another post.

Not too long ago, however, chicken came under fire. Large corporations wanted bigger chickens at a faster pace and less loss. So they required their farmers who supplied with the chickens to use hormones and antibiotics. At first, everyone was excited! The consumers too! Why? Because they could have fat, juicy chickens that were cheap! And so, chicks were crammed into small houses and cages, fed hormones and given antibiotics. Well, it was later brought to the public’s attention that those hormones and antibiotics were still in the flesh when we consumed it (You are what what you eat eats too!). Research found links to early breast development in girls and hormonally driven cancers like breast cancer.

Now for those of us consuming a great deal of chicken thinking we were giving our bodies something healthy, had to re-evaluate our choice. Do we give up chicken? Eat only fish? Grab tofu and go vegetarian? Well, there is still a choice when selecting chicken. Free Range. No hormones. No Antibiotics. More and more you can find this at your better supermarkets. Or you can order online and have it shipped to your home. Some of the suppliers require you to order 10-20 pounds at time. This makes for more efficient ordering and saving on cost of shipping, but you do need to eat chicken that has been frozen within 6 months, so don’t order too much! You will pay a bit more for organic free range chicken because they take longer to bring to market (8-10 weeks versus 6 weeks of conventionally raised chickens) but they are much more nutritious. According to Dr. Andrew Weil, in his book, The Healthy Kitchen, “The fat from free-range poultry has a better spectrum of fatty acids, and the flesh tastes better.”

Be sure to read the fine print on both the labels at your supermarket or the website that you are looking to order. “Free range” doesn’t necessarily mean running on a grassy meadow. It may only mean access to a dirt patch. Or, as in the case of one farm in California, the grassy area is provided, but the chickens stay inside the “house”. Why? Well, since the chickens aren’t fed antibiotics, they are susceptible to disease. The farmers don’t want to lose their flock, so they keep them inside for 5 weeks, then they open the gate to allow them to stroll outside on the grassy lawn. They don’t venture out to that scary part of the yard. They stick inside, close to one another in the familiar space. They only have a few more weeks to live anyway….. So look for the “pastured” on your free range chicken packages. That means they truly were pecking away outside on the grassy knoll.

Wheat-Free Buckwheat Pancakes

“It never rains in California…. but girl don’t they warn yah….” (I love that song, it is from my childhood!) It’s true, it rarely rains in southern California. And we are in a drought! However, it is cold and rainy today… a perfect fall, chilly, wet day and a great night for comfort food. I like breakfast foods for dinner…. and tonight I am going to make my husband Rod and I buckwheat pancakes. No, I am not going to include white or wheat flour…. I am trying to stay away from “white flour, sugar and rice.”

Did you know buckwheat is not a wheat? I didn’t!! It is not remotely related to wheat. Why in the world someone named it buck”wheat” is odd and certainly mis-leading. It’s gluten-free, and it’s safe for people with celiac disease. Buckwheat and wheat are from completely different botanical families. Buckwheat seeds are technically the fruit of a plant called Fagopyrum esculentum.

Buckwheat is not a grain but because of it’s use, it has been referred to as a pseudocereal. Buckwheat seeds are dehulled and the remaining seed material, called groats, can be ground into flour. Roasted groats are known as kasha. (I didn’t know that either!)

Buckwheat is high in protein and B vitamins and rich in phosphorus, potassium, iron, calcium, and lysine. A great source of dietary fiber, buckwheat helps lower cholesterol levels in the blood. A one-cup serving of cooked buckwheat groats provides 17 grams of dietary fiber (68% of the daily requirement for a 2000 cal/day diet) and 22 g of protein.

I found this recipe on cdkitchen.com. It isn’t easy finding recipe without flour. And most of them want you to use buttermilk (which I don’t consume) so I am going to test out the following but make one minor (well, maybe not minor) change. I don’t have milk, but I do have organic heavy cream… so a little more fat in the batter will have an affect. Baking is a science (too bad I never took any science other than biology and anatomy…)

1 cup buckwheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 Tbl sugar (I will be using organic sucanat)
1/2 tsp salt
1 organic free range chicken egg (I am out of duck eggs)
1 cup of milk (I will be substituting organic heavy cream)
2 Tbl melted organic butter

Preheat skillet to 375F. Grease lightly with oil. Mix dry ingredients together. Add egg, milk and butter, mixing well after each addition. Pour 1/4 cup batter onto hot griddle. Cook until bubbles break on surface, turn and bake an addition 1 to 1 1/2 minutes or until browned.

Gotta run! Hubby will be home soon and I need to heat up the griddle!

Cows on the Pature: courtesy of eatwild.com

With the industrialization of the ranching/meat packing industry… what our grandparents used to know and identify (by taste) as meat, was vastly different than what we are sold, served or fed today. Why? What is wrong with how our meat is manufactured today? It got incorporated! Capitalization. Systematized. Made efficient, faster and cheaper to produce meat. Why is meat so inexpensive (compared with the days of our grandparents)? Corn.

Corn is the largest crop in the US. And corn is fed to our cattle, pigs, chickens etc. But let’s focus on cattle. Cattle aren’t supposed to eat corn.. why do we feed it to them? Corn is cheap! And subsidized by the US government. The USDA wants to move all that surplus of corn and corn is a compact source of caloric energy which means the cows will fatten up quickly! It also causes their flesh to marble well, giving the meat the taste and texture we have all come to like. Is it healthy for the cow? or Us? Not exactly…What happens when corn is fed to cows? Illness. And this leads to the need for antibiotics. Understand then, that we are eating what our animals ate and given, including those antibiotics! The flesh is also now higher in saturated fats and it has less omega 3 fatty acids than grass fed animals.

But meat is still a nutritious food, supplying essential amino acids, vitamins and minerals. But where can we find quality meat? And how much should we be consuming? As my Auntie Mar would say, ‘all in moderation”. She eats whatever she wants but in small quantities and is and has been trim her entire life (she is in her 70’s now and going strong!). We want to stay away from industrialized meat as it exposes us to more saturated fats, omega-6 fatty acids, growth hormones and carcinogens. The alternative? Cattle raised solely on grass. Animals raised on grass means they will have more Omega-3 fatty acids and conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), and less omega-6 in their meat, eggs and milk. A great website to read more about the nutrition in truly grass fed animals is www.eatwild.com

Remember our discussion on labeling? Well, it is very important here to pay attention to the labels of “free range” and “grass fed”. For chickens, look for the word “pastured” and for beef, look for “grass finished” or “100% grass” fed to ensure that the cattle are grass fed all the way through the process (many times the cattle are grass fed until the hit the feedlot, then they are given corn or other grains).

I realize our focus is on food. But I did want to share that by supporting ranchers who follow the grass fed process from start to finish, otherwise known as “grassfarmers”, you are helping out our environment and farm workers as well. In general, the meat, milk and eggs found at the supermarket are the result of facilities called CAFOs (Confined Animal Feeding Operations) and although they output inexpensive products for consumption, it comes at a price. (source: Eatwild.com)

• Animal stress and abuse
• Air, land, and water pollution
• The unnecessary use of hormones, antibiotics, and other drugs
• Low-paid, stressful farm work
• The loss of small family farms
• Food with less nutritional value

Now you know what you are looking for in selecting meat. You are going to pay more for the meat because 100% grass fed is not a cheap process. But also remember that you don’t need to eat so much. Think of the meat on your plate as a side dish, not the main course and you can enjoy meat, be healthier and not overspend.

What Is Your Cow Eating?

I found the website eatwild.com to be so full of great information that I decided to republish (with permission, of course) a couple of articles written by Jo Robinson

You Are What Your Animals Eat

by Jo Robinson

In my investigation into pasture-based farming, I’ve stumbled upon an alarming state of affairs: few animal scientists see any link between animal feed and human food. “Feed animals anything you want,” say the experts, “and it makes no difference to their meat, milk, or eggs.” Because of this mindset, our animals are being fed just about anything that enhances the bottom line, including chicken feathers, sawdust, chicken manure, stale pizza dough, potato chips, and candy bars.

Here’s a glaring example. A 1996 study explored the desirability of feeding stale chewing gum to cattle.(1) Amazingly, the gum was still in its aluminum foil wrappers. Wonder of wonders, the experts concluded that bubblegum diet was a net benefit—at least for the producers. I quote: “Results of both experiments suggest that [gum and packaging material] may be fed to safely replace up to 30% of corn-alfalfa hay diets for growing steers with advantages in improving dry matter intake and digestibility.” In other words, feed a steer a diet that is 30 percent bubblegum and aluminum foil wrappers, and it will be a more efficient eater. With a nod to public safety, the researchers did check to see how much aluminum was deposited in the various organs of the cattle. Not to worry. The aluminum content was “within normal expected ranges.” As always, there was no mention of the nutritional content of the resulting meat.

When I first read the bubblegum studies, I assumed that no one would actually feed bubblegum to their animals, despite the “positive outcome” of the research.. Then a professor of animal science drove me by a Beechnut gum factory in upstate New York where dairy farmers bought truckloads of bubble gum to feed to their cows.

The view from the other side of the fence is just as sobering. Most experts in human nutrition are equally blind to the feed/food connection. To them, beef is beef, eggs are eggs, and milk is milk. Thus, when the USDA says “eat less red meat,” the edict applies to all red meat, whether it’s a fatty steak from a grainfed cow, or a lean steak from a grassfed cow with its invisible bounty of omega-3s, vitamin E, beta-carotene, and CLA.

I’ve spent the past four years trying to forge the missing link between animal and human nutrition. It’s been tough going, especially when it comes pasture-raised animals because virtually all the studies focus on feedlot animals. To fill in the gap, I’ve searched through yellowing journals published before the advent of factory farming, pieced together small studies financed by farmers, and combed through the research from Ireland, Australia, and New Zealand—parts of the world where animals are still kept home on the range.

Finding the amount of vitamin E in grassfed meat has been one of my biggest challenges. I began tthe search when I learned that grass has 20 times more vitamin E than corn or soy. Given the magnitude of this difference, I reasoned that meat from grassfed animals must have an extra helping of vitamin E.

At long last, I located one American study that broached the subject. The impetus for the study came from disgruntled Japanese buyers who complained that American beef spoiled more quickly than Australian free-range beef. Knowing that vitamin E helped prolong shelf life, the American researchers investigated the amount of vitamin E in the two types of meat. Lo and behold, they discovered that the meat from grassfed cattle had three to four times more vitamin E than feedlot beef, thanks to all that vitamin E-rich grass.

Now, what did the researchers do with this finding? True to form, they began studying how much synthetic vitamin E to add to synthetic feedlot diets. I doubt that it even occurred to them to investigate pasture-based ranching.

Why this lack of interest in the natural model? Much of our animal research is funded by commercial interests—specifically the grain, chemical, pharmaceutical, farm equipment, and meat-packing companies. Together, these vertically integrated behemoths have a multi-billion dollar stake in perpetuating factory farming. The USDA, meanwhile, aids and abets the feedlot industry by focusing virtually all of its efforts—and our tax dollars!—on tweaking the system. For example, the USDA Meat and Animal Research Center in Lincoln, Nebraska, is more willing to spend $100,000 researching how quickly feedlot manure seeps into the water table than to spend a similar amount of money investigating pasture-based ranching, the holistic model that keeps the contamination from happening in the first place.

What will it take to draw more scientific attention to pasture-based ranching? Pressure from an enlightened public. And what will it take to enlighten the public? The national media.

I have a fantasy how this might happen. First, a prominent media source such as “60 minutes” or The New York Times will decide to spotlight pasture-based farming. Building on this ground-breaking work, an award-winning TV producer will create a documentary that deepens the discussion. The program will conclude—as it must—-that raising animals on pasture is better for consumers, the animals, the environment, and small farmers. Before long, dozens of news shows, newspapers, and magazines will follow suit.

As the momentum builds, grassfarming will become the talk of the town. Serving organic meat won’t win points in Los Angeles anymore unless it’s grassfed as well. Meanwhile, Ted Turner will stop sending all of his bison to feedlots to be fattened like cattle, and by 2005, his “Turner Reserve Grassfed Bison” will be the thing to serve at celebrity gatherings. Propelled by this groundswell of interest, private and government institutions will finally devote more time, money and energy to exploring pasture-based farming.

Will grassfarming ever become the darling of the media? Only time will tell. But even if the media misses the boat, the good news about grassfarming will keep spreading on the grassroots level, one satisfied customer at a time!

Jo Robinson is a New York Times bestselling writer. She is the author or coauthor of 11 nationally published books including Pasture Perfect, which is a comprehensive overview of the benefits of choosing products from pasture-raised animals, and The Omega Diet (with Dr. Artemis Simopoulos) that describes an omega-3 enriched Mediterranean diet that may be the healthiest eating program of all. To order her books or learn more about grassfed products, visit http://eatwild.com.