We had our 6th event. This time we had Desiree (the assistant store manager of Whole Foods) walk us through the store at the bowery. We started off with a light snack upstairs so everyone cold get to know each other. Then we headed downstairs for the tour.

Desiree explained that Whole Foods was the first store to carry natural products. She explained that all the meats at the store come from humane companies such as Bell and Evans who provides Whole Foods with chickens raised on an all natural diet, with no antibiotics, growth hormones or preservatives.

We also discussed "bird friendly coffee", which left an un-answered question, so here goes: shade groen coffee is good for birds who live in those areas. It also lowers the need for fertilizers and herbicides. The majority of coffee grown is usually 2/3 of a farm. Shade grown coffee can host about 150 species of birds as opposed to non-shade coffee which only keeps from 20-50. The bird population has decreased significantly, for example there are 70% less Cape May Warbles.  So after doing a little research, I'd say its worth it to purchase Bird friendly coffee.

Right after that we hit up the pet food section, Desiree explained the benefits of feeding dogs a raw diet. This is something we truly believe in. Petey (the mascot of FriendsEAT) has been on a raw meat diet for the past 3 years. He eats Stella and Chewy's, it's an all natural, raw pet food made from human grade free range meats and organic veggies. That's better than most people eat, but we have noticed a significant change in his health and attitude when we switched. I remember when my vet kept telling me to give Petey kibble, and I made the analogy of Total. According to the advertisement, Total has 100% of all vitamins and minerals needed by a human, so in theory, if I eat Total at every meal, I should not need to eat anything else. We all know this is not true and it is the same for animals, so I urge everyone to really watch what they feed their pets.

Ok, back to the topic at hand. The most interesting thing I learned about was Vegan sugar. So it turns out that sugar utilizes cow bone char to whiten sugar. Brown sugar is NOT considered Vegan; it is made by adding molasses to refined sugar (which was made with bone char). If this is an issue for you, one way to ascertain that you are going Vegan is to stay away from ALL refined sugar and utilizing turbinado sugar or beet sugar. Just in case you are interested, vegfamily.com (where I got my info) lists the following companies as Vegan friendly:

Florida Crystals Refinery
P.O. Box 86
South Bay, FL 33493
407-996-9072
Labels: Florida Crystals

Refined Sugars Incorporated
One Federal St.
Yonkers, NY 10702
914-963-2400
Labels: Jack Frost, Country Cane, 4# Flow-Sweet
Pillsbury
Makes powdered brown sugar

Supreme Sugar Company (subsidiary of Archer Daniels Midland)
P.O. Box 56009
New Orleans, LA 70156
504-831-0901
Labels: Supreme, Southern Bell, Rouse's Markets

We also discussed sodium content and what we should be consuming daily. The US Department of Health and Human Services says we should have no more than 2,300 mg per day (1 tsp of salt). The average American has an average of 5,000 (twice the recommended ammount). Where does this come from? Most likely prepared foods, I went onto http://www.nutritiondata.com/ and checked out a couple prepated items:

A plain hot dog has 710 mg of sodium
A beef and cheddar hot pocket has 960 mg sodium
Lean cuisine chicken and vegetables with Vermicelli has 633 mg sodium

This is where we get in trouble. Also, we have to make sure to see how many servings per package. Sometimes companies will list 250 mg of sodium, but there may be 3 servings per packet making the true sodium content 750 mg. So I guess the thing we come away with is keep your consumption of prepared foods low.

We learned a bunch more stuff, but the best part was getting to know everyone. I'd like to thank everyone that made it out (battling the pouring rain) and special thanks to our host Desiree.

I was at the Chelsea Wine Vault in Manhattan at 7pm and I heard that Robert Mondavi just passed away. Got home, googled and alas it is true.

The Man was a legend and the US wine industry owes so much to him. He passed away in his home in Yountville, apparently peacefully. For those who are not aware, he turned the California wine industry from cheap jug wines to the highly prized jewels that we drink today.

I hope everyone takes a minute or two to pay their respects to the man that made the US wine industry. It took quite a while for wine to become popular in the US. The majority of people (40) don't even drink. It's kinda crazy since the majority of the people in the states are of European descent where wine was a very common beverage. When the settlers first came here, they were stoked that they found grape vines growing wild. However , when they tried to make wine it wasn't so good. They went ahead and started bringing in grapes from Europe, this did not work. The grapes produced really bad wine, the majority could not whitstand the diseases of the US, and Europe's wine remained the choice for grape worshippers. 

Spanish religion and the gold rush pushed wine consumption to its maximum and then Europe got in trouble, Phylloxera (a destroyer of vines) struck Europe and California was a player once again in the grape business. As soon as we started flourishing, Phylloxera hit the US and really set California back. 

13 years of prohibition in the early 1900's really hurt the industry. A few wineries survived by making medicinal and sacramental wine (think of Sebastiani who has lasted 104 years). During this time, wine took a step back to spirits such as bathtub gin, which was easier to produce. Thousands of vines were torn and destroyed and by the time we got back to making wines, we were doomed to years of jugs and cheap generic wines. 

It took Mondavi to really change the industry. He had a falling out with his brother (there was even a now famed fist fight) and he broke away from the family business to create a new industry. Mondavi began using techniques like French oak ageing and put his wines up against the best in France. As we say in Latin America, the man had cojones. 

In the late 70's his wines were recognized as better than some of the best French VT's and now people from all over the world come to the US to taste our Zinfandels, Cabernets, Fume (Sauvignon) Blancs and Chardonnays.

In 2003 I visited Mondavi's place in Napa. It was one of the first wineries I got to experience in tis fullness. Our guide, a gorgeous silver haired woman, gave us a tour of the old Spanish Finca and we were lucky enough to get a taste of their private selection fume blanc (aka sauvignon blanc). That wine should be had, preferably when the sunlight glistens through the cracks of old Spanish wooden doors, 9 foot high in the company of Napa Valley. I suddenly understood the spirit that was this land. Thank you Mr. Mondavi.