Dec. 4, 2013 Mordechai Schiller: The Mystery of Teddy Roosevelt's Menorahs George Friedman of Stratfor: Israel's New Strategic Position Christi Parsons: The chalice that helped make possible the Iran nuclear deal Geoffrey Mohan: OOPS! You mean men and women really are different? Kimberly Lankford: How to Navigate Medicare on Your Parents' Behalf Everything's Relative by Jordan B. "Gorf" Gorfinkel : A teaching/torture moment The Kosher Gourmet by Kathleen Purvis: The secrets to preparing perfect mashed potatoes (3 mmm-outhwatering recipes!) Dec. 2, 2013 Rabbi Moshe Grylak: Attack on Chanukah's scholar-warriors an affront to all people of faith Mark Steyn: U.S. boxes in Israel, not Iran: Surrender in Geneva Kimberly Lankford: The Lowdown on the Obamacare Health Insurance Penalty Kathy Kristof: 5 Stocks to Sell Now Karen Ansel, M.S., R.D.: How you can eat more and weigh less Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom: Vanessa Bayer & Jacob, the Bar Mitzvah Boy; Adam Levine, nickname "the Bear Jew," is People's Sexiest; Eastwoods Need to Say "Kinehora!" The Kosher Gourmet by Kim Ode: Fried and gone to heaven: Dense, fried Slovenian doughnut-like rolls, krofi, on Chanukah is a treat you'll want to eat all year long Nov. 27, 2013 Caroline B. Glick: The goal of Obama's foreign policy David G. Savage: 1993 religious freedom act is at heart of contraception case Jonathan Tobin: SCOTUS Gives Religious Freedom a Hearing Cameron Huddleston: Best Doorbuster Deals for Thanksgiving and Black Friday Anjelica Tan and Cameron Huddleston: 12 Things Not to Buy During the Holidays Amina Khan: Jellyfish inspire flying-robot design The Kosher Gourmet by Cathy Pollak: Thanksgiving leftovers from boring to brilliant: TURKEY-BUTTERNUT TORTILLA SOUP WITH ZESTY LIME SOUR CREAM Nov. 25, 2013 Jonathan Tobin: Ayatollahs, 1; West . . . Damned Melanie Phillips: It's 1938 all over again Cameron Huddleston: The Black Friday Deals that Aren't Harvard Health Letters: Some health-related apps should be avoided Kimberly Lankford: Time Is Running Out on Energy-Efficient Home Improvement Tax Credits Karen Kaplan: Tracking babies' eyes, scientists find signs of autism in 2-month-olds The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Secrets to perfect roasting of vegetables, including clever cook additions Nov. 22, 2013 Rabbi Benjamin Hecht: Especially wrong: How not to de-pamper a self-absorbed society Caroline B. Glick: A vastly changed Middle East Karen Kaplan: Bored? You won't be after reading this! Morgan Housel: What drives me absolutely crazy about finance Schuyler Velasco: Is one-click shopping just too darn easy? Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Hunger Games: Jewish Connections; A 'Minyan'of Jewish Celebs Recite the Gettysburg Address On-line; Walter Matthau's Reaction to JFK's Death L'CHAIM! by Joshua E. London and Lou Marmon: This year, give the gift of booze Nov. 20, 2013 Christa Case Bryant: Israel becomes a 'Promised Land' for non-Jewish geeks Steve Weizman: Rebuffed by Washington Netanyahu heads to Moscow 'Love Thy Enemy's Grandchild' Yale S. Samole, M.D. : Doctor, do I have to take this medication forever? Sharon Palmer, R.D. : Which foods are best? Busting nutrition myths Eleanor Laise: Medical credit cards can cause heartburn The Kosher Gourmet by Emma Christensen: Cranberry Curd Bars with Walnut Shortbread Crust is an excellent last-minute treat for Thanksgiving or any other special dinner this fall Nov. 18, 2013 There Is More Than One Way To Save a Life: As told to Rabbi Nachman Seltzer Nancy A. Youssef : Christians too afraid to complain as treatment in new 'democracy' worsens Stacy Teicher Khadaroo: How to get high school dropouts into 'recovery'? Soumya Karlamangla: Family sues NJ over gay-conversion therapy ban Susannah Snider: When to replace your financial adviser Jordan B. "Gorf" Gorfinkel's Everything's Relative: FINALLY! The solution to the global campaign to ostracize Israel The Kosher Gourmet by Rick Nelson: Celebrating vegetables, Italian-style ( 4 tantalizing recipes!>) Nov. 15, 2013 Rabbi Avraham Edelstein: The Quintessential soul food Caroline B. Glick: The demise of Pax Americana Steven Emerson: 'Muslim exception to the First Amendment'? Sandra Block: Watch out for the sales pitch Morgan Housel: Now is not the time to do anything stupid Jewz in the Newz by Nate Bloom : Jewish MLB managers; Past and Present; Movie News and Dancing W/the Stars Shocker; Paula Abdul's Israeli bat mitzvah and bio facts rarely reported The Kosher Gourmet by Diane Rossen Worthington: Lamb Stew with Dates and Zinfandel is a slightly sweet, aromatic feast and the perfect cold-weather entree

Jewish World Review August 24, 2007 / 10 Elul, 5767 Deflating the organic mythology By Betsy Hart http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | Occasionally, I will buy "organic" fruits and vegetables or other food, supposedly meaning food grown without pesticides or fertilizers or other chemicals. But when I buy the stuff, it's always by accident. (Ditto for "fat-free" foods, like ice cream or half-and-half or cookies. Once in a while I'll buy the "fat-free" varieties without realizing what I've done, only to gag when I put it in my mouth. I mean, if I want to eat a goodie, I want the satisfaction of the real thing.) Other people feel virtuous when they buy expensive organics. I feel I've been had. A recent piece in Time magazine backs me up. In "Rethinking Organics" by Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the doctor writes that while few things make people feel more "virtuous" than eating organic food, there's little evidence that they are either more nutritious or any safer for our bodies than traditionally grown produce with their fertilizers and pesticides. Gee, you mean "organics" won't save the world after all? For starters, the doctor notes, correctly, that researchers just haven't made any connection between our ongoing trace-pesticide consumption from food and a long-term negative effect on our health. In fact, given that life expectancy is up by decades in the United States from the turn of the last century, and that cancer rates (not just death rates) have been dropping across the board since the early 1990s, one has to say that that just makes sense on the face of it. Could it be that since now fruits and vegetables are cheap, luscious-looking and available year-round (Strawberries in January? Once unthinkable!) thanks largely to chemicals and fertilizers, it means people are eating more of them with incumbent health benefits? Answer: yes. Ah, but aren't organics, grown in the heart of the earth Mother Nature's way, just loaded with extra vitamins and nutrients? Think again, says Gupta. Studies have shown no or sometimes a very tiny difference between organics and conventionally farmed produce when it comes to nutrients. There may be one exception. Tomatoes. The problem there is that while organically grown tomatoes were shown to be higher in anti-oxidants than traditionally grown tomatoes in one study, the organics in the study were grown in highly controlled settings that might not be replicated at all in the real world. (By the way, here's a little health nugget that may also seem counterintuitive: Frozen vegetables — yikes — will typically preserve their nutrients more than fresh ones, of whatever organic or non-organic stripe. Like any living thing, vegetables start to break down once they are no longer living.) It's true one objection I have to organics is that they are typically more expensive, sometimes far more expensive, than traditionally grown produce. They even appear in processed foods like spaghetti sauce, which is completely ridiculous. (Gupta says processing takes away (begin italic) any (end italic) benefit of organics.) But if a family is so convinced by the organic crowd that they offer such amazing health benefits that the family has to splurge on organics, even including organic milk and eggs, well, they might be eating fewer fruits and vegetables and dairy overall, and that does have negative health consequences. But what most bothers me is that some of the claims of organic advocates almost resemble a crusade about saving family farms, and the environment and maybe next our souls by eating organic. Hence the slogan, "Think locally, act globally, buy organic." But it seems it's actually thoughtlessness that's so typically involved, in what has become a sort of feel-good moral crusade for organic foods. It's so easy to think of organics — or, rather, feel about organics — as some kind of cure-all and inherently virtuous along with things like recycling. (Never mind if the newspapers we self-righteously lug to the bottom of the driveway typically sit in huge warehouses before they're finally burned or buried.) It's no fun to have to think through a cost-benefit analysis. That requires, well, thinking. And in our culture, it's just easy, it just feels good ... to feel good. Well, this is one gal who "thinks" it's just fine to buy lots of cheap, luscious-looking produce from the conventionally-farmed-food aisles at the grocery. I'm thinking locally, all right. About what's best for my family. Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here. JWR contributor Betsy Hart, a frequent commentator on CNN and the Fox News Channel, can be reached by clicking here. BUY BETSY'S BOOK "It Takes a Parent : How the Culture of Pushover Parenting is Hurting Our Kids — and What to Do About It"   "Hart urges parents to focus...on instilling industry, frugality, sincerity and humility. She encourages parents to reclaim the word "no." Contrary to advice you may have received, you needn't give your child choices, or offer alternatives, or explain to little Suzie why she can't eat eight cookies right before bed-you're the parent, and sometimes you can just say no."   —   Kirkus Reports Sales help fund JWR. Betsy Hart Archives © 2007, Scripps Howard News Servic

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