The Mindful Table

New Canadian Organic Aquaculture Standards: Don’t Get Excited

Amanda S. — Fri, 11 May 2012 16:12:57 +0000

This week the Canadian Standards Association unveiled their new Canadian Organic Aquaculture Standards. Farmed fish isn’t specifically addressed in most organic standards certifications, so the new standards aim to fix that. We should be excited, right? I’m not so sure. It seems to me that the standards fail to raise the bar adequately, and may [...]

Pork: Checking-In on the Labels

Amanda S. — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 14:34:47 +0000

I was heartened to hear about Burger King’s decision to move towards cage-free eggs and “cage-free” pork (at least in the United States). But what exactly is cage-free pork? As Twilight Greenaway points out in the Grist food blog, it’s possible that Burger King has invented the term. What they are really referring to are [...]

Clams: A Sustainable Source of Dietary Iron

Amanda S. — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 11:53:44 +0000

As some of my blog readers know, I’m currently working on adding health and nutrition coaching services to my livelihood as a freelance writer. It’s something I’m passionate about and since I already write in the food and health fields, it’s a good fit. One of the most frequent requests I get from female friends [...]

All Fruit Smoothies Are Not Created Equal

Amanda S. — Wed, 28 Mar 2012 11:52:35 +0000

The other day I happened to walk through a McDonald’s Café in Montreal and I noticed that they were giving out free samples of their new Real Fruit smoothies. I declined (I haven’t eaten in McDonald’s in 20 years and I’m not about to start now!), but it got me curious. Did they really contain [...]

Fair Trade Coffee for Single Cup Machines

Amanda S. — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 11:30:49 +0000

It seems like few people among my friends brew a simple pot of coffee anymore. Instead they pop a little capsule into a machine, put a cup underneath a spout and press a button. A few seconds and lots of sputtering later, they have a hot cup of coffee. Some machines even have fancy attachments [...]