Ah beets, the often forgotten superfood….or more likely…the ‘ew, beets, I think I’ll forget them’ food. These little buggers can make you look like a super chef in 10 minutes or less (scroll down to see how to do this), and provide a myriad of health benefits.

Here are just a few: They can help in normalizing blood pressure, they help to keep the elasticity of arteries, their iron content is of the finest quality which makes it a powerful cleanser and builder of blood, and thus why they are very effective in treating many ailments caused by toxic environment and surrounding.

Beets are recommended for pregnant women because they contain folic acid that can help lower the risk of spina bifida and other neural tube defects in newborn infants. Beet juice helps stimulate the function of liver cells and protect the liver and bile ducts & beet juice is highly alkaline which makes it effective in the treatment of acidosis.

I recommend that you do NOT buy regular beets from the store, but instead, plan to only by organic beets. The reason? The beet crop is one of the most genetically modified in our country; they are actually created in a lab to grow and produce their own herbicide/pesticides from within. This means you CANNOT wash them off, and you will eat the harmful chemicals. Now that you know this, onto looking like a super chef!

Buy your beets. Clip off the stalks & scrub the beets well. Place them on a piece of foil that is big enough to wrap around & cover the beets. Put them in an oven that is preheating to 300. Leave them. For at least an hour. Go do other stuff. Come back at 1 hour & stick a fork/knife in them. If it’s difficult to stick them, they’re not done. Leave them some more. Check again in 15 mins. They shouldn’t be mushy and falling apart when you stick them, but not so firm you break your knife sticking it in. Between 1 hour 15 mins – 1 hour 3 mins, they should be done. Take them out, leave them wrapped in foil on the counter. Plan to put them into a container to go in the fridge within 2 hours, but if you want to serve them that day, do this next part after they’ve cooled.

Are they cool? Great, take one out, put it on a plate or your cutting board. Using a peeler, peel off the skins (they may be tender enough to just peel right out of your fingers as you hold the beet). Either use them or put back into the container for future use.

What do I do now to be a super chef? When you need to throw together a fabulous salad that is super simple to go with a super fast dinner, take out 1 beet per 2 people (if they are large), slice it or cut it into wedges. Saute some kale or spinach until just wilted. Add the beets so they warm slightly. Pull a little Chevrie or Feta out of the fridge & sprinkle on top. And congratulate yourself because you look like a super chef in seriously no time at all. The beets last a week once cooked, so bring one to work and you can take a blah-salad to new levels, keep them ready at home for that last minute supper that you’ll actually make taste awesome. It’s really a perfect little bundle of healthy goodness!

But there I was, amongst the fat-free pudding cups & lean cuisines, trying to find something I’d actually eat. As I stood there thinking, ‘why in the hell would someone buy this stuff if they knew the preservatives & chemicals that were in in it?!’ I bought some bottled water that had a ‘smart choice’ stamp on it. But there was a time when I too bought into the pudding cups, lean cuisines, diet pepsi’s with a green “smart choice” label on it. I knew absolutely nothing about nutrition at that time, and it showed….in my pantry, and in my waistline.

“But if I buy chicken breasts, and I don’t eat them all on time, they’ll smell funny & then I’ll have to throw them away!” So instead I’ll just buy lean cuisines or those frozen in a bag meals & since there’s meat in there, that will work just as well…..right? WRONG. DEAD WRONG.  First off, the meat in those frozen dishes are never actually real meat. They will inevitably have stabilizers (chemicals), preservatives (chemicals), gluten, wheat, glues, and other ridiculous things that are NOT meat in them. And all of those things create inflammation in your body, which will force your body to store more fat, break down faster, and run metabolic systems poorly. Second, those things taste disgusting once you taste how meat & veggies are really supposed to taste, I don’t care HOW convenient they supposedly are.

So many people don’t buy real food because they think it’s a waste of money because of how fast it breaks down. “But the strawberries are fuzzy!”…That’s exactly what you WANT to happen!! It’s your own dang fault if you didn’t eat them in time, but you should be excited that your strawberries rotted. If you want something that doesn’t rot, go eat a Big Mac – which a dietitian I knew bought & kept on a cake plate for more than 2 years & it never molded or rotted. Which would you rather ingest? Something that lives, dies & rots in a normal time span or some zombie-like-undead food-like-product that even after ingestion could have the power to live on forever in your intestine? That’s just gross.

I even caught myself saying this once recently when we got hooked up with a good supplier of pastured ground turkey meat. I made half the tray of meat one night & went to get the other half the next night, and it was already starting to turn an ‘off’ color around the edges. ‘Hey!’ I said, ‘it’s going bad already!’…and then it hit me that the turning color was a sign of just how fresh this meat was. All the other ground turkey meats we’ve ever gotten last about 4 days once opened….how, I’m not so sure, other than what must be preservatives because this meat always starts to go through the breakdown process within 24 hours of opening it.

But that’s a waste, you say? Too much meat & produce going bad? Then that’s not the foods’ fault, that’s your fault for not figuring out how to plan better. That’s an easy fix. Learn how to cook the whole tray of meat for leftover lunches or fast dinners the next few nights. Plan your produce for lunches & dinners so that what spoils first gets eaten first & so you ensure you’re going to prepare enough meals to eat all of what you bought. You spent the money, why waste it by buying real food then not getting to it in time?

Got the meat, got the plan but still not finding yourself eating the food before it goes bad? Perhaps you just are not adapted to the flavor of REAL FOOD yet….if you’ve been eating pre-packaged, processed foods for a while, your palate is trained to like the flavor of not-from-nature sweetness, savory-ness, and other non-natural flavors. Chemicals make food feel & taste like things that are not real in nature. You are going to have to re-train your palate. Start by using Stevia or honey instead of sugar or Splenda. Use seasonings exclusively for 2 weeks on your meat to re-learn what real meat tastes like, and to learn how spicy/tangy/savory you like your meat. I had to do this once in the 1st month of a Candida Diet & got very used to it, very quickly. It was just the habit of dipping my meat into a sauce that I had to break, and with good seasonings done right, and meat cooked well – not until it’s dryer than sand!- it’s really fairly easy.

If you buy food that cannot turn fuzzy, just know that you’re not eating real food. If you choose things that have long shelf-life, just remember that you’re eating something that is dead but is being propped up like some Weekend at Bernies’ movie remake. Start buying things that can turn fuzzy, then plan to consume them before they become fuzzbusters.

Monsanto is an agriculture company that has the largest piece of the pie in the seed, herbicide & pesticide business. The majority of corn & soybeans in this country (and in much of the world) come from Monsanto, and they also sell seeds for much of the non-organic fruit & vegetables in stores today. They are a veritable monster in the industry & they know it. They’ve also taken some serious heat for their practices since the movie “Food, Inc.” came out. Haven’t seen it yet? Put it on your ‘required-viewing’ list before the end of the month. I’m serious.

They even created a seed that actually already has the pesticide built into it, so that the fruit or vegetable can actually release pesticides from inside itself to fend off bugs. This is one version of genetically modified food (GMOs). Just so it’s clear – tomatoes that produce the pesticide from within the fruit mean that you cannot remove the pesticide from washing it. You will  eat the pesticide.

Monsanto wants you to think that they are doing this wonderful thing by creating pesticides that save crops from bugs & disease, since bugs in crops means less overall crops, which means less overall food for the world. Sounds noble right? Doing “right by the people” “saving our economy by employing people at our factories”- it all sounds nice. Bullshit. I understand that it’s a free country so Monsanto can stand for their right to make stuff & preach stuff, but when what they make has shown itself to create alterations to metabolic, physiological, & immunological pathways in the bodies of the animals & people that eat them, then we have a problem.

 That corn chip & salsa you ate at the Super Bowl party this weekend probably came from a GMO corn crop & GMO tomatoes that had pesticides in the seeds that went into the salsa you ate. So thank you Monsanto, you just ate pesticides & genetically modified food that will impact your body.

And that is where the problem is. Just like cigarettes are legal to make & legal t0 buy if over age 18, you have the right to make & eat GMO foods if you want. But with cigarettes, you have to make the choice to consume the product (heck, you even have the right to choose to step away from people who light up cigarettes!) With GMO foods – those that have been altered to have pesticides inside or have had their chemical make-up changed to withstand disease – you have almost NO CHOICE in the use or avoidance of these foods.

GMO foods are not regulated by the federal government (in fact, many of Monsanto’s people work in the highest levels of US Government) & a consumer must look very closely to determine if food they are consuming contain GMO produce. So you actually have less of a freedom to choose here than you do with the freedom to choose or avoid cigarettes. Lovely. Consider the following:

- If it’s not organic, it’s using pesticides & genetically modified seeds to grow the crops.

- If it’s in a box & NOT LABELED OTHERWISE, it has been made with genetically modified ingredients: chips, soybeans, beets, rice, popcorn, sauces, crackers, baby food, even meats since those animals were fed GMO corn unless otherwise labeled.

- In Europe, you must label any food item that contains GMO ingredients. Here? Not so much. It IS possible to give people the right to know & choose/pass on GMO foods – why are we not getting that choice??

This week we dive into how a real person -with a family- can actually eat local food, do it well & make it more cost effective than you’d think. I had the chance to interview Dr. William O’Brien, chiropractic physician/amazing partner of Dr. John D. Turner, who’s incredible interview with us shed plenty of light on living a gluten free life regardless of requirement for it. As I got to know Dr. O’brien, I found out that Dr. O’Brien & his family do something that is exactly the right thing to do when deciding how you’re going to feed your family, and I was so impressed that I asked him to give us an interview about what he’s up to & how it’s working for him. Here’s what he had to say!

K:  Who are you, what is your title, what is your practice/philosophy(s) as relating to the care of a family’s health, including the kids?

 Dr. O: My name is Dr. William O’Brien and I am a licensed Chiropractic Physician in the state of Illinois.  My practice is located in Glendale Heights, Illinois.  I am a Certified Applied Kinesiologist with post-graduate studies in Chiropractic Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology.  Currently, I am also the President and Co-founder of the American Academies of Sports Practitioners (http://www.sportspractitioners.org).

K:  You take an approach to feeding your family that is still somewhat unique in this country. You go right to the source- the farmer- to get your meat. When did you start doing this & what was it that made you make the decision to do this?

 Dr. O: We started going directly to a farmer for our meat a little over 7 years ago.  Although as a family, we do not eat an abundance of red meat, as a husband and parent of two little boys, my wife and I try to provide our children with nutritional choices that are helpful in their development. 

K:  As I understand it, you buy part or all of a cow from a farm each year. What kind of cow is it? Organic? Pastured? Where does it come from i.e.somewhere in Chicagoland?

 Dr. O: We purchase our beef from a farm in Wisconsin and have it processed at a local Wisconsin butcher.  The beef we purchase is considered a free range, grass fed organic cow. 

K:  Why do you buy the whole thing or a very large section of it vs. just buying the small packs of meat at a place like Whole Foods? Is there a big difference in cost when buying all or part of a cow?

 Dr. O: The reason we purchase the whole cow is convenience and cost.  The beef comes individually wrapped, deep-frozen and is divided into whatever selections you would like: steaks, roasts, ribs, ground beef, etc.  As far as cost, you do save quite a bit of money when you purchase the beef in bulk, either a ¼, ½ or whole cow.

K:  What health benefits are you getting from this meat compared to regular meat (non-organic) in the store? 

 Dr. O: The health benefits are the same as most organic meats:  no antibiotics, no pesticides on the grass they eat and no hormones are used throughout the raising or processing.

K:  What do you tell your kids about why your family buys this way vs. the way many Americans do, one pack of meat at a time?

 Dr. O: My children are young, so we try our best to explain to them the health benefits of organic eating.  We tell them that non-organic foods contain chemicals that may be harmful. 

K:  Have you had to answer any questions from your kids about why other kids families eat foods that are not normally on your dinner plate?

 Dr. O: Not at this point.  With the kids being young, those topics do not come up very often.

K:  That may change as they get to school age, I suppose. So, do you buy anything else straight from the farmer? If so, what? & what benefits are you getting from doing this?

 Dr. O: We also buy organic chicken and eggs from the farm.  This we do on a smaller scale than the beef.  Most of our other non-beef meats and poultry, we try to purchase at the local supermarket and try to stick to an organic selection. 

K:  Do you find you save money eating this way or is it more costly & just something you need to budget for?

 Dr. O: Definitely (a money saver).  Typically, the cost of the beef after processing ranges from $2.50 – $3.50 per pound.  When you compare that to the cost of organic beef at your local supermarket, $5 – $15 per pound, it is much less expensive.  Especially when you are getting cuts of meat like Filet Mignon, NY Strips, Rib Eyes, etc.

K:  Mmm, Filet Mignon…that is very hard to find at a low price when it’s organic beef! Is there anything else you’d like people to know about eating well locally & the benefits of eating organic?

Dr. O: Overall it’s up to the consumer, the process of purchasing organic beef in bulk, is obviously a little more involved than going to a supermarket.  When you factor in the cost benefit and overall health benefits, it really is worth the little extra time once or twice a year to visit your organic farmer.

Dr. O’ Brien, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us about how a family of 4 really can eat locally, and eat well. I hope this will motivate others to do some research & find a farmer near them. I’ll have a few resources at the end of this post to aid in that search.

One of the things I appreciate most is that, having met his boys a few times, they are really young in age & they are eating real food. At an age where finnicky eating begins to rage if not coached appropriately, these little guys are eating real food, thanks to the coaching of their parents. As I mentioned before gang, you control what your kids eat. There is no such true statement as, “Little Johnnie will only eat chicken nuggets & pasta at this age.” It’s simply not true. At some point he’ll get hungry & will suck it up and learn to eat broccoli, grilled turkey burger, salad, etc. because they’ll be hungry and they just won’t find cookies, sugared cereal, fried chicken nuggets, or fast food. Unless you let them. And that would be a disappointing thing to give a child at a time when they are growing new cells every single day, and at a rapid rate. Don’t have kids you need to worry about? How about yourself? You are just as important to ensure you get good nutrition into your body.

A few final points:

• Maybe a 1/2 a cow is a lot of meat for you for 1 year. Find a friend & split it!
• Thinking this makes sense for meat since you’ve checked out how much higher priced good, organic meat is at the grocery store? How about doing the same with your vegetables? Join a CSA this year (shares are being sold now for the growing season) & get a 1/2 bushel or more of fresh, local, organic, in-season veggies delivered to your door or to a local drop-off point.
• Clear from your mind the word “expensive” as it related to something of such high value. You may pay more for things that are better quality – organic, pastured meat is infinitely better quality than what you typically find in your supermarket. Don’t know why? Watch “Food, Inc.” and you’ll get it – it’s a stunning visual picture of the reality of factory farming & how disgusting that is to the animal, to the planet and to consumer. Organic, pastured meat & organic veggies are of high value, so you may find yourself paying a premium if you don’t go the CSA or farmer-direct route.

So where do you get your search started for this endeavor? A simple Google search of local organic farmers will produce several results in your area, but if you live in Chicagoland, here are some places that are doing it that you should take your business to.

Moo Grass Farms does organic, pastured meat, produce, eggs, bakery goods, dairy and a few other goodies.

Hasselmann Family Farms lets their pigs, chickens, and other meats run around the pasture & eat natural stuff.

Green Earth Institute does CSA shares, which means you may get them delivered to your door, a drop-off point, or you may even get to go work on the farm for a day if you’re interested in really seeing where your food comes from.

Do something good for yourself, your family, the animals, the Earth & your local economy. Start buying local food. It only takes so many people to make a ‘movement’ today, something that is utterly ‘normal’ in the next generation. You’re expected to do your part. So get on it.