One of our customers found this article in the Chicago Tribune earlier this month
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Wasting goodies

Verna Noel Jones

October 9, 2005

Some 40 to 50 percent of all food produced in the United States is never eaten. Yet about 36 million Americans don't have regular access to nutritious foods.

Bringing the excess food and hungry people together is the role of a network of volunteer "gleaners," who salvage donated surplus food that is edible but no longer marketable, notes a report in the October/November issue of Eating Well. The food is then moved to food banks, emergency kitchens and other programs that help to distribute it.

Besides farm produce, there is a regular surplus of meats, dairy products and processed foods that otherwise would be thrown out by restaurants, retailers, wholesalers and packers.

Nutrient-filled fruits and vegetables are especially important because so many people have limited access to affordable produce, said Peter Clarke, coordinator of From the Wholesaler to the Hungry, a project of the University of Southern California School of Medicine.

For more information on food recovery, how to become a gleaner or where to get the food being distributed, contact America's Second Harvest at 312-263-2303, or www.secondharvest.org.

Following are two food rescue organizations in the Chicago area: Greater Chicago Food Depository, Chicago, 773-247-3663; Northern Illinois Food Bank, St. Charles, 630-443-6910.

Breathe easier

Regulate your breathing properly and you can lower your blood pressure by 10 to 15 percent. An FDA-approved portable, computerized breathing device called the Resperate can help, without drugs or side effects.

Basically, the device guides the user through deep-breathing exercises that slow breathing. This, in turn, helps to relax the muscles around the body's small blood vessels, allowing blood to flow more freely and dropping blood pressure. The goal is to take 10 breaths a minute, which is guided by two distinct tones that let the user know when to inhale and when to exhale.

Clinical studies have shown that after using the Resperate for eight weeks, systolic blood pressure can be lowered by up to 36 points and diastolic pressure can be lowered by up to 20 points. The device costs $299 and may be covered by insurance. For more information, go to www.resperate.com or call 877-988-9388.

Pre-teen vaccines

The American Academy of Pediatrics is recommending some new vaccines for pre-teens, says a report in the October issue of Parenting. One is a booster for pertussis (whooping cough), which is being added to the tetanus-diphtheria booster shot already given.

This protects not only the child who gets the shot but also any infants under age 1 who are at risk of contracting pertussis before being fully protected by their own vaccine, said Dr. Louis Cooper, professor emeritus of pediatrics at Columbia University in New York City.

A new vaccine also is available for the rare but sometimes deadly meningitis, an inflammation of the membranes that cover the brain and spinal cord. A third vaccine, due by year's end, is a pre-emptive strike for kids who may become sexually active in the teen years. It wards off the human papillomavirus, a sexually transmitted disease that causes genital warts and can lead to cervical cancer.


Copyright © 2005, Chicago Tribune

less waste the better.