Hope's Edge: The Next Diet for a Small Planet (50 page)

Appendix H. Sugars, Honey, and Molasses Compared

Appendix I. Food Additives: What’s Safe? What to Avoid?

Safe

These additives appear to be safe.

ALGINATE, PROPYLENE GLYCOL ALGINATE Thickening agents; foam stabilizer.
Ice cream, cheese, candy, yogurt

ALPHA TOCOPHEROL (Vitamin E) Antioxidant, nutrient.
Vegetable oil

ASCORBIC ACID (Vitamin C), ERYTHORBIC ACID Antioxidant, nutrient, color stabilizer.
Oily foods, cereals, soft drinks, cured meats

BETA CAROTENE Coloring; nutrient.
Margarine, shortening, non-dairy whiteners, butter

CALCIUM (or SODIUM) PROPIONATE Preservative.
Bread, rolls, pies, cakes

CALCIUM (or SODIUM) STEAROYL LACTYLATE Dough conditioner, whipping agent.
Bread dough, cake fillings, artificial whipped cream, processed egg whites

CARRAGEENAN Thickening and stabilizing agent.
Ice cream, jelly, chocolate milk, infant formula

CASEIN, SODIUM CASEINATE Thickening and whitening agent.
Ice cream, ice milk, sherbet, coffee creamers

CITRIC ACID, SODIUM CITRATE Acid, flavoring, chelating agent.
Ice cream, sherbet, fruit drink, candy, carbonated beverages, instant potatoes

EDTA Chelating agent.
Salad dressing, margarine, sandwich spreads, mayonnaise, processed fruits and vegetables, canned shellfish, soft drinks

FERROUS GLUCONATE Coloring, nutrient.
Black olives

FUMARIC ACID Tartness agent.
Powdered drinks, pudding, pie fillings, gelatin desserts

GELATIN Thickening and gelling agent.
Powdered dessert mix, yogurt, ice cream, cheese spreads, beverages

GLYCERIN (GLYCEROL) Maintains water content.
Marshmallow, candy, fudge, baked goods

HYDROLYZED VEGETABLE PROTEIN (HVP) Flavor enhancer.
Instant soups, frankfurters, sauce mixes, beef stew

LACTIC ACID Acidity regulator.
Spanish olives, cheese, frozen desserts, carbonated beverages

LACTOSE Sweetener.
Whipped topping mix, breakfast pastry

LECITHIN Emulsifier, antioxidant.
Baked goods, margarine, chocolate, ice cream

MANNITOL Sweetener, other uses.
Chewing gum, low-calorie foods

MONO- and DIGLYCERIDES Emulsifier.
Baked goods, margarine, candy, peanut butter

POLYSORBATE 60 Emulsifier.
Baked goods, frozen desserts, imitation dairy products

SODIUM BENZOATE
Fruit juice, carbonated drinks, pickles, preserves

SODIUM CARBOXYMETHYLCELLULOSE (CMC) Thickening and stabilizing agent; prevents sugar from crystallizing.
Ice cream, beer, pie fillings, icings, diet foods, candy

SORBIC ACID, POTASSIUM SORBATE Prevents growth of mold and bacteria.
Cheese, syrup, jelly, cake, wine, dry fruits

SORBITAN MONOSTEARATE Emulsifier.
Cakes, candy, frozen pudding, icing

SORBITOL Sweetener, thickening agent, maintains moisture.
Dietetic drinks and foods; candy, shredded coconut, chewing gum

STARCH, MODIFIED STARCH Thickening agent.
Soup, gravy, baby foods

VANILLIN, ETHY$$ILLIN Substitute for vanilla.
Ice cream, baked $$ beverages, chocolate, candy, gelatin desserts

Caution

These additives may be unsafe, are poorly tested, or are used in foods we eat too much of.

ARTIFICIAL COLORING—YELLOW NO. 6 Artificial coloring.
Beverages, sausage, baked goods, candy, gelatin

ARTIFICIAL FLAVORING Flavoring.
Soda pop, candy, breakfast cereals, gelatin desserts; many others

BUTYLATED HYDROXYANISOLE (BHA) Antioxidant.
Cereals, chewing gum, potato chips, vegetable oil

CORN SYRUP Sweetener, thickener.
Candy, toppings, syrups, snack foods, imitation dairy foods

DEXTROSE (GLUCOSE, CORN SUGAR) Sweetener, coloring agent.
Bread, caramel, soda pop, cookies, many other foods

GUMS: Guar, Locust Bean, Arabic, Furcelleran, Ghatti, Karaya, Tragacanth. Thickening agents, stabilizers.
Beverages, ice cream, frozen pudding, salad dressing, dough, cottage cheese, candy, drink mixes

HEPTYL PARABEN Preservative.
Beer

HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL Source of oil or fat.
Margarine, many processed foods

INVERT SUGAR Sweetener.
Candy, soft drinks, many other foods

MONOSODIUM GLUTAMATE (MSG) Flavor enhancer.
Soup, seafood, poultry, cheese, sauces, stews; many others

PHOSPHORIC ACID; PHOSPHATES Acidulant, chelating agent, buffer, emulsifier, nutrient, discoloration inhibitor.
Baked goods, cheese, powdered foods, cured meat, soda pop, breakfast cereals, dehydrated potatoes

PROPYL GALLATE Antioxidant.
Vegetable oil, meat products, potato sticks, chicken soup base, chewing gum

SULFUR DIOXIDE, SODIUM BISULFITE Preservative, bleach.
Sliced fruit, wine, grape juice, dehydrated potatoes

Avoid

These additives are unsafe in the amounts consumed or are very poorly tested.

ARTIFICIAL COLORINGS

BLUE No. 1
Beverages, candy, baked goods

BLUE No. 2
Pet food, beverages, candy

CITRUS RED No. 2
Skin of some Florida oranges only

GREEN No. 3
Candy, beverages

ORANGE B
Hot dogs

RED No. 3
Cherries in fruit cocktail, candy, baked goods

RED No. 40
Soda pop, candy, gelatin desserts, pastry, pet food, sausage

YELLOW No. 5
Gelatin dessert, candy, pet food, baked goods

BROMINATED VEGETABLE OIL (BVO) Emulsifier, clouding agent.
Soft drinks
BUTYLATED HYDROXYTOLUENE (BHT) Antioxidant.
Cereals, chewing gum, potato chips, oils, etc
.

CAFFEINE Stimulant.
Coffee, tea, cocoa (natural); soft drinks (additive)

QUININE Flavoring.
Tonic water, quinine water, bitter lemon

SACCHARIN Synthetic sweetener.
“Diet” products

SALT (SODIUM CHLORIDE) Flavoring.
Most processed foods, soup, potato chips, crackers

SODIUM NITRITE, SODIUM NITRATE Preservative, coloring, flavoring.
Bacon, ham, frankfurters, luncheon meats, smoked fish, corned beef

SUGAR (SUCROSE) Sweetener.
Table sugar, sweetened foods

G
LOSSARY

ANTIOXIDANTS retard the oxidation of unsaturated fats and oils, colorings and flavorings. Oxidation leads to rancidity, flavor changes, and loss of color. Most of these effects are caused by reaction of oxygen in the air with fats.

CHELATING AGENTS trap trace amounts of metal atoms that would otherwise cause food to discolor or go rancid.

EMULSIFIERS keep oil and water mixed together.

FLAVOR ENHANCERS have little or no flavor of their own, but accentuate the natural flavor of foods. They are usually used when very little of a natural ingredient is present.

THICKENING AGENTS are natural or chemically modified carbohydrates that absorb some of the water that is present in food, thereby making the food thicker. Thickening agents “stabilize” factory-made foods by keeping the complex mixtures of oils, water, acids, and solids well mixed.

Copyright by Center for Science in the Public Interest 1978. Posters with this information available from CSPI, 1755 S Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009.

Appendix J. Recommended Paperback Cookbooks

1. Ewald, Ellen,
   Recipes for a Small Planet
   . Ballantine, 1973. A wealth of creative complementary protein recipes.
   
2. Hewitt, Jean,
   The New York Times Natural Foods Cookbook
   . Avon, 1972. Highly recommended by friends.
   
3. Hunter, Beatrice Trum,
   The Natural Foods Cookbook
   . Pyramid, 1961. My early bible. Just reading through all the incredible ideas is mind-expanding!
   
4. Katzen, Mollie,
   Moosewood Cookbook
   . Ten Speed Press, P.O. Box 7123, Berkeley, Calif. 94707. Simple and elegant dishes.
   
5. Robertson, Laurel, Carol Flinders, and Bronwen Godfrey,
   Laurel’s Kitchen. A Handbook for Vegetarian Cookery and Nutrition
   . Bantam Books, 1976. A classic.
   
6. Thomas, Anna,
   The Vegetarian Epicure
   . Vintage, 1972. Elegant dishes.
   
7. Schandler, Michael and Nina,
   The Complete Guide and Cookbook for Raising Your Child as a Vegetarian
   . Schocken Books, 1981. Also includes advice for pregnant and breast-feeding women.
   
8. Shurtleff, William, and Akiko Aoyagi,
   The Book of Tofu
   (1979) and
   The Book of Miso
   (1981), Ballantine Books, and the
   Book of Tempeh
   , Harper & Row. Much more than excellent cookbooks, these provide fascinating information about the cultures that developed these versatile foods. For more information about soyfoods and a catalogue of publications, send a long, self-addressed stamped envelope to The Soyfoods Center, P.O. Box 234, Lafayette, CA 94549.
   

Notes

Diet for a Small Planet
Twenty Years Later—An Extraordinary Time to Be Alive

  1.
National Academy of Sciences, “Alternative Agriculture,” Washington DC, September 1989.

  2.
Marty Strange,
Family Farming: A New Economic Vision
(Lincoln and San Francisco: University of Nebraska Press and the Institute for Food and Development Policy, 1988).

  3.
Helvetius,
de l’esprit
, Paris, 1758, cited in Jane Mansbridge,
Beyond Self-Interest
(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1990), 6.

  4.
John Adams, quoted by Clinton Rossiter,
Conservatism in America
, 2d ed., rev. (New York: Vintage, 1962), 111.

  5.
See, for example, Frances Moore Lappé,
Rediscovering America’s Values
(New York: Ballantine Books, 1989), Part II, “What’s Fair?” and Kevin Phillips,
The Politics of Rich and Poor
(New York: Random House, 1990).

  6.
Adam Smith,
The Theory of Moral Sentiments
, ed. D. D. Raphael and A. L. Macfie (Indianapolis: Liberty Classics, 1982), pt. 1, sec. 1, ch. 5, 25.

  7.
Charles R. Darwin,
The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex
. (New York: D. Appleton, 1909), pt. 1, 121.

  8.
Martin L. Hoffman, “The Development of Empathy,” in J. Philippe Rushton and Richard M. Sorrentino, eds.,
Altruism and Helping Behavior
(Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1981).

  9.
Alfie Kohn,
The Brighter Side of Human Nature
(New York: Basic Books, 1990).

10.
See, for example:
In Defense of the Land Ethic: Essays in Environmental Philosophy
(Albany: State University of New York Press, 1989), and
Companion to A Sand County Almanac: Interpretive and Critical Essays
(Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1987).

11.
“Marx Meets Muir, Toward a Synthesis of the Progressive Political and Ecological Visions,”
Tikkun
, vol. 2, no. 4, Sept./Oct. 1987.

12.
Jim Mason and Peter Singer,
Animal Factories
(New York: Crown, 1980).

13.
John Robbins,
Diet for a New America
(Walpole, NH: Still-point Publishing).

14.
Wes Jackson, “Making Sustainable Agriculture Work,”
The Journal of Gastronomy
, vol. 5, no. 2, Summer/Autumn 1989, 133.

15.
“Democracy’s Next Generation,” People for the American Way, Washington, DC, 1989.

16.
Harry C. Boyte,
CommonWealth: A Return
to
Citizen Politics
(New York: Free Press, 1989).

17.
Harry C. Boyte,
Community Is Possible: Repairing America’s Roots
(New York: Harper and Row, 1984).

18.
Bernard Crick,
In Defence of Politics
(Baltimore: Penguin, 1964), 25.

19.
Kentuckians for the Commonwealth, RO. Box 864, Prestonburg, KY 41653.

20.
Bill Elasky, “Becoming” in
Democracy & Education
, 1990 Conference Issue (Athens, OH: Institute for Democracy in Education, 1990).

21.
Financial Democracy Campaign, 329 Rensselaer St., Charlotte, NC 28203.

22.
Barry Commoner,
Making Peace with the Planet
(New York: Pantheon, 1990).

23.
Frances Moore Lappé and Family,
What To Do After You Turn Off the TV
(New York: Ballantine Books, 1985).

24.
Listening Project, Rural Southern Voice for Peace, 1898 Hannah Ranch Road, Burnsville, NC 28714.

Book One: Diet for a Small Planet

PART I
RECIPE FOR A PERSONAL REVOLUTION

Chapter 2. My Journey

  1.
Impact of Market Concentration on Rising Food Prices
, Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Antitrust, Monopoly and Business Rights of the Committee on the Judiciary, United States Senate, 96th Congress, 1st Session on Rising Food Prices in the United States, April 6, 1979, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1979. Testimonies of Drs. Russell Parker, John Conner, and Willard Mueller. (Based on their testimony of $10 to $15 billion in 1975, I estimate monopoly overcharges to have reached close to $20 billion by 1981.)

  2.
U.S. Agency for International Development, Congressional Presentation, Fiscal Year 1982, main volume, p. 239.

  3.
Ibid. p. 250.

  4.
William Lin, George Coffman, and J. B. Penn,
U.S. Farm Numbers, Size and Related Structural Dimensions: Projections to the Year 2000
, Technical Bulletin No. 1625, Economics and Statistics Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1980, p. iii.

  5.
U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Landownership in the United States
, 1978, p. 1.

  6.
Donald Paarlberg,
Farm and Food Policy: Issues of the 1980s
, University of Nebraska Press, 1980, p. 68.

  7.
Impact of Market Concentration
, op. cit.

  8.
Industry profits from
Handbook of Agriculture Charts
, 1980, U.S. Department of Agriculture, p. 39. Overcharges estimate from
Impact of Market Concentration
, op. cit., adjusted upward to account for increased profits and inflation since 1975.

  9.
Washington Resource Report
, Environmental Policy Center, Washington, D.C., July 1981.

10.
“The Pesticide Industry: What Price Concentration?”
Farmline
, U.S. Department of Agriculture, March 1981, p. 10.

11.
Council on Wage and Price Stability, Executive Office of the President,
Report on Prices for Agricultural Machinery and Equipment
, Washington, D.C., 1976.

12.
U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Status of the Family Farm
, Second Annual Report to Congress, Economics and Statistics Service, Agricultural Economic Report No. 441, 1979, p. 40.

13.
James Rowen, “Oxy Takes a Very Big Bite,”
The Nation
, October 31, 1981, p. 435.

14.
V. James Rhodes, “The Red Meat Food Chain: Horizontal Size and Vertical Linkages,” presented at Midwestern Conference on Food, Agriculture and Public Policy, S. Sioux City, Nebraska, November 18, 1980.

15.
Western Livestock Journal
, August 1979.

16.
An Analysis of the Futures Trading Activity in Live and Feeder Cattle Contracts of Large (Reporting) Traders on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange
, staff report to the Small Business Committee of the House of Representatives, September 1980, pp. 13, 21, 23.

17.
Our estimate comes from the following sources: profits in the late 1960s averaged $14 million/yr. according to
Feedstuffs
, January 11, 1969. Profits for 1979 estimated at $150 million by
Business Week
, April 16, 1979. In constant 1967 dollars this is a 441 percent increase; in current dollars, over 1,000 percent increase.

18.
“Cargill: Preparing for the Next Boom in Worldwide Grain Trading,”
Business Week
, April 16, 1979. pp. 3 ff.

19.
Multinational Corporations and United States Foreign Policy
, Hearing Before the Subcommittee on Multinational Corporations, Senate Foreign Relations Committee, June 18, 23, 24, 1976, Part II, p. 241.

20.
Wall Street Journal
, March 6, 1979.

21.
Dan Morgan,
Merchants of Grain
(Viking, 1979), pp. 234–235.

22.
Feedstuffs
, November 1, 1979, p. 1.

23.
Ibid.

24.
Small Business Problems in the Marketing of Meat and Other Commodities
(Part 3—Beef in America: An Industry in Crisis), by the staff of the Committee on Small Business, House of Representatives, 96th Congress, 2nd Session, October 1980, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1980, pp. 28–29.

25.
Relationship Between Structure and Performance in the Steer and Heifer Slaughtering Industry
, Committee on Small Business, House of Representatives, 96th Congress, 2nd Session, September 1980, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1980, p. 44. (This study indicates that 30 percent of the rise in beef prices in recent years can be attributed to concentration in the industry. But the study is widely disputed.)

26.
Impact of Market Concentration on Rising Food Prices
, op. cit.

PART II.
DIET FOR A SMALL PLANET

Chapter 1. One Less Hamburger?

  1.
Food and Agriculture Organization, Production Yearbook
, Rome, 1979.

  2.
World Hunger, Health, and Refugee Problems, Summary of a Special Study Mission to Asia and the Middle East
(Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1976), p. 99.

  3.
Letter from Dr. Marcel Ganzin, Director, Food Policy and Nutrition Division, FAO, Rome, April 1976.

  4.
Calculations based on Food and Agriculture Organization,
Yearbook of International Trade Statistics
, 1974;
Production Yearbook
, 1974 and 1975; and
Trade Yearbook
, 1975. For a complete discussion see Chapter 11,
Food First: Beyond the Myth of Scarcity
(Ballantine Books, 1979).

  5.
Food and Agriculture Organization,
Report on the 1960 World Census of Agriculture
, Rome, 1971. (And since then, landholdings in most countries have become even more concentrated.)

  6.
Food and Agriculture Organization,
State of Food and Agriculture
, 1978, Rome, pp. 66–71.

  7.
Ho Kwon Ping, “Profit and Poverty in the Plantations,”
Far Eastern Economic Review
, July 11, 1980, pp. 53 ff.

  8.
James Parsons, “Forest to Pasture: Development or Destruction?”
Revista de Biologia Tropical
, vol. 24, Supplement 1, 1976, p. 124.

  9.
The first part of
Food First: Beyond the Myth of Scarcity
by Frances Moore Lappé and Joseph Collins (Ballantine, 1979), discusses the reasons behind the high birthrates in the third world and includes references to many excellent sources.

10.
U.S. Agency for International Development,
Congressional Presentation
, Fiscal Year 1980, p. 128.

Chapter 2. Like Driving a Cadillac

  1.
Raw Materials in the United States Economy 1900–1977;
Technical Paper 47, prepared under contract by Vivian Eberle Spencer, U.S. Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of Interior Bureau of Mines, p. 3.

  2.
Ibid. Table 2, p. 86.

  3.
U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Livestock Production Units, 1910–1961
, Statistical Bulletin No. 325, p. 18, and
Agricultural Statistics, 1980
, p. 56. Current world imports from
FAO At Work
, newsletter of the liaison office for North America of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, May 1981.

  4.
David Pimentel et al., “The Potential for Grass-Fed Livestock: Resource Constraints,”
Science
, February 22, 1980, volume 207, pp. 843 ff.

  5.
David Pimentel, “Energy and Land Constraints in Food Protein Production,”
Science
, November 21, 1975, pp. 754 ff.

  6.
Robert R. Oltjen, “Tomorrow’s Diets for Beef Cattle,”
The Science Teacher
, vol. 38, no. 3, March 1970.

  7.
The amount varies depending on the price of grain, but 2,200 to 2,500 pounds is typical. See note 13 for more detailed explanation of grain feeding.

  8.
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service,
Cattle Feeding in the United States
, Agricultural Economics, Report No. 186, 1970, p. 5.

  9.
Ibid. p. iv.