Hot Topic Sizzle on Milk & Health from Chef Marian

Milk or an Alternate?
Milk or an Alternate?

Hot Topic Sizzle. That’s what I am calling this new regular feature on ChefMarian.com. And today we are focusing on Milk & Health and what people are saying.

I get 300 emails a day. THREE HUNDRED emails. And every day I sort, organize and take what’s important, to get you ideas for my next blog.

The Hot Topic that comes up over and over? What’s new in the food world!

I have shared this kind of info in the past, but now it’s time to do it more regularly as a monthly feature. 

So what’s hot? What are people are talking about this month?

According to the Specialty Food News, “More Americans are Trying to Improve Diet”. Do they mean ‘trying to improve their diet’ but just didn’t have space? lol 

Ok. I won’t be picky.

Here’s what they have to say, and where they get their conclusions from:

“A new Gallup poll shows more Americans are trying to maintain a healthier diet. Nearly two in three American consumers (63 percent) currently avoid drinking soda, bravo! Whoo Hooo! I haven’t had a soda in decades! lol compared with only 41 percent in 2002. Almost half of respondents said they try to include organic food in their diets, yah! good going America! while more than 90 percent try to include fruits and vegetables. Well, we sure are starting to rock it. Now, if we can only get people to eat organic for the better flavor less hormones, chemicals, pesticides and general crap, then we will really have something going! But wait! There’s more! 

While consumers are increasingly working to add the good stuff, they’re also trying to cut back on the bad. Some 52 percent of Americans avoid sugar and fat; in 2002, only 43 percent of consumers said they avoided sugar. Good. We don’t need sugar. But our bodies do need a certain amount of healthy fat. This ‘all or nothing’ deal, makes no sense to me on any level. Even a ‘once in a while treat’ isn’t going to throw your body off that much… Chicken and other poultry is still the most included protein in American diets, at 84 percent, followed by seafood at 75 percent and beef at 62 percent, both coming in over 90 percent”. Well, I have something to say about that, but I will hold it till later in this blog. Ok?

YES CHEF!

Jumping to The Wall Street Journal, the next topic is: Grass-Fed Milk Finds Niche ….

Wow! That really throws me for a loop. First of all, we know our bodies don’t process dairy (that today’s dairy), aside from the fact that cows ’emissions’ (farts) are double in contributing to global warming than cars, lol – So, do we really care if milk is organic or not? Or is the BIG news that more Americans are switching to Coconut, Soy, and Almond Milk?

I searched all over the web…. stories about soy milk fading in popularity and almond milk taking over, people talking about hemp milk, rice milk. Fox News even tells us “The Truth about Milk“, like we didn’t already know it. lol

The news source that does the best with this topic is the Herald Tribune. I finally found through their article that only 8% of us drink milk alternatives.

“Milk alternatives make up just 8 percent of overall milk sales in the United States, but for the past few years, they’ve represented the fastest-growing part of the dairy market, according to Mintel, a Chicago-based research firm.

Sales of milk alternatives rose to nearly $2 billion in 2013, up 30 percent since 2011, driven in large part by the popularity of almond milk. In that same period, the entire milk category grew by just 1.8 percent, to $24.5 billion, according to Mintel. Nondairy milk’s growth is expected to continue outpacing dairy milk’s at least through 2018″.

Geez…. 8%? Are you kidding me? And growing? Well, I like that part of the story! lol

I did a blog recently on Cowspiracy, that clearly shows documentation that the pasture a cow grazes on will feed a family, yet that same space used to grow plants can feed the community. Come on World! This global warming thing isn’t going away. If we use less land for cows and more for replanting trees, we can beat this thing! I mean are we waiting for legislation that makes this thing right?

NO CHEF!

No is right! It ain’t happenin’ on it’s own. Fo Shizzle your Nizzle. Do me a flavor?

WHAT CHEF?

The next time you are shopping, instead of buying for a wine tasting? Do a milk alternate tasting: rice, soy, almond, coconut, hemp… and let me know which one you like best. Try it as your ‘milk and cookies’, over your breakfast cereal, in your smoothies. I’ve actually done that, and you know what I found?

WHAT CHEF?

I found I prefer not to eat soy, that rice is ok but the two I like best are almond and coconut milk. Do I miss milk? That answer is no! So give yourself a chance to like something better for you. Will you do that for me?

YES CHEF!

Alrighty, then. We’ve done good today!

Happy Eating,

Chef Marian