A small handful of innovative restaurants in the city actually combine all these qualities into a single menu. It's very difficult to pull off, and most don't do so successfully. The restaurant with the best reputation in this class is Sona, on La Cienega. I have been excited to try it for some time, and Saturday night my husband and I finally did so.

Before arriving, my expectations for Sona were both high and low. They were high, because Sona is an extraordinarily well regarded restaurant. According to the Sona Web site:

Sona and [Chef] David Myers have received numerous accolades including a Michelin star and a James Beard nomination for Best Chef - Pacific Region. Previously, Angeleno named Sona “Restaurant of the Year”. The October 2005 Gourmet magazine featured David and his team. Chef Myers was a James Beard Rising Star Chef nominee and was named Best New Chef by Food & Wine Magazine. Sona is a Wine Spectator “Grand Award” winner.

But at the same time, my expectations were low. Those who sing the praises of Sona emphasize the restaurant's brilliance at wine selection and pairing. But I don't drink. The restaurant is famous for its unconventional preparations of both conventional fish and meats, and also for wild game, such as venison. But I don't eat meat. And I have been disappointed again and again by restaurants that emphasize preparation over the quality, freshness and healthfulness of ingredients.

So there I was, a teetotaler vegetarian ingredient purist entering a restaurant famous for (among other things) its wines, meats and innovation.

The exterior of Sona is nondescript, and the interior is a sophisticated LA Zen. All colors are light and muted, except for three things in the room that explode with color: The giant flower arrangement atop a center wine station; the colors of La Cienega Blvd. traffic, which are transformed into moving art by textured opaque glass windows; and the food.

Oh, the food! Sona’s brilliant and talented young chef and owner, David Myers (along with his excellent staff) don’t compromise quality, flavor or service -- they do it all, and from scratch! Their commitment to serving food that’s seasonal, local, organic and free-range made the entire culinary experience an unforgettable event that far exceeded my expectations.

Never before have I seen contradictory qualities merged into incredible dishes so masterfully. The sweet and the savory. The herbs and the produce. The French and the Japanese. The smooth and the substantive.

From their freshly and daily home-made breads to the divine and succulent entrees followed by an array of very unique desserts, the food was made with the finest and freshest ingredients. Every dish was extraordinary, and looked as beautiful as it tasted.

Knowing that our preference was vegan food, they surprised us with many vegan delights that truly burst with flavors. And since we don’t drink alcohol, we were surprised again with a wonderful non-alcoholic, freshly made raspberry spritzer.

We lost count of the courses after a while, but each brought the experience to a new level of awesomeness. Two of the many courses that stand out for me are the fresh sweet pea vegan soup and the couscous risotto with nori and mushrooms. The fresh split pea soup was delicate, smooth and full of flavor. The couscous risotto was exquisite. Made with a hint of ginger, this fusion dish was bursting with flavors from Asia and Europe.

As fast as we were devouring each course served to us, for almost three hours, we didn’t have enough time or room in the stomach to complete all the courses that had been planned for us.

This feast was made of a very large number of very small dishes, including two palate cleansers (which were more like courses in their own right) and several desert courses, the last two of which we took to go and enjoyed later.

Note that Sona is not a restaurant you go to on your way to the theater. The restaurant is the theater, and the evening. Expect to enjoy 3 to 4 hours of culinary shock-and-awe.

One of the evening's highlights was meeting Chef Myers, and going back to the kitchen for a tour to meet the rest of the gifted crew.

You should know that Sona is a very expensive restaurant, more along the lines of what you might pay for a wonderful meal in Tokyo, rather than LA (a few hundred dollars per person if you drink wine).

While the cost may seem high, in my experience you get what you pay for. Besides, the cost is roughly equivalent to what you might pay for an evening that included a lesser restaurant and a good play or good seats at a concert or basketball game. The difference is that the food is the main event, not a precursor.

Sona’s dedication to the quality of food and outstanding service is in the end a great value. Sona represents a perfect harmony between the best of what an excellent farm can produce, the best of culinary innovation and the best service and atmosphere. Sona is a one-of-a-kind experience. As a bonus, Sona will surprise your palate and delight your other senses as well.

If you live in, or ever travel to, LA, do yourself an big favor: Experience Sona.

Meanwhile, at nearby Washington, D.C., public schools, the children of less wealthy, less powerful parents are being served toxic, industrial, non-organic foods. And likewise at nearly every public school across the nation.

During the campaign, all candidates, including Obama, talked endlessly about what was always categorized as "healthcare," when in fact it was all about healthcare insurance. "Health" almost never came up during the campaign, nor did the US government's massive corporate welfare program, which subsidizes the most toxic and unhealthy foods, while leaving healthy and organic food producers to fend for themselves on this uneven playing field.

Nevertheless, I and many others remain hopeful that the Obama's awareness about the superiority of organic foods will lead to actual policy changes that put organic food in every school and every home, and stop the obesity, diabetes and cancer epidemics where they start: with our diets.

Barack Obama: We applaud your good parenting, and your desire to take care of your kids. But starting January 20, you're our president. And we're counting on you to take care of our kids, too.

I buy the majority of my food at my local Farmer's Markets, the health food store and through my food-coop group. While the health food store sells a lot of processed and convenience foods, they carry healthier versions of what their conventional counterparts sell, even when these carry some organic options also.

In my experience, most people's carts at the health food store contain a combination of produce, grains, beans and also quite a few processed, packaged and canned items. Some time ago, I was looking for ripe avocados and found myself looking in the local conventional super market. It was a surreal experience. I was almost in tears because it was so schocking and painful to see that the majority of people, with children, had shopping carts full of cheap toxic foods that come laden with artificial additives. It was truly overwhelming for me to witness this and I was overcome with sadness because I'm sure that in most instances, these peope simply don't know how harmful these "dead" foods are. They don't know how bad what they are buying is.

I decided to take a walking tour through the isles of the grocery store and noticed that the food prices, in many instances, are even higher than, for example, Whole Foods Market's 365 Organic Everyday Value® brand foods. Conventional grocery stores teamed up with industrial food manufacturers really stick it to uninformed consumers who pay a higher price -- both in food costs and in poor health.

I've also had clients asking me about preparing a vegetarian or vegan Thanksgiving, so I took this opportunity to develop and test new holiday recipes I’ve been working on. And I must say, they turned out really well. My guests, who are not vegetarians, absolutely loved the food and were raving about it.

With just about one week left to the presidential election, the issue of the U.S. Farm Bill has not been discussed by either candidate. But sometimes the actions of a presidential candidate's wife can provide important insight. I was pleased to learn that Michelle Obama mentioned in an interview that she buys organic foods and fresh fruit for her family. This might be an indication that her husband may share her same value system. And, the fact that Barack Obama drinks organic tea might be further hint that he is aware of the superiority of organic food. Having any other new president will be a step in the right direction. But having a president that at least knows that organic is better gives me hope.

Recently, Michael Pollan, author of the best selling book, "the Omnivore's Dilemma," wrote an open letter called, "Farmer in Chief," to the next President of the U.S. in, which he eloquently and articulately outlines a proposal with strategies for sustainable agriculture. Pollan effectively makes the point that food policy is in many ways the underlying cause of what's wrong with all the challenges that the next administration will face, not unlike how processed foods are the underlying cause of the top four killer diseases in the U.S. Pollan systematically shows the connection between the outdated farm bill (providing subsidies to rich corporation in the food commodity industry), the food policy (responsible for our broken food system responsible for cheap toxic calories), the dependency on oil for the entire industrial food system (from growing methods to production and transportation), the crisis in health care (unaffordable and focused on treatment rather than prevention) and national security (how terrorists could easily attack us using our food supplies).

Pollan proposes what he calls the Sun-food diet, food that's grown with sunlight rather than fossil fuel. His insightful solutions include using the power of the sun to grow food, decentralizing the food system and changing America's food culture through education about why and how to grow and cook food. I applaud Pollan’s efforts to plant seeds.

Ten Surprising Ways Food Affects Health; How to choose and care for healthy cookware; Grow food instead of a lawn; and the Vegetarian Organic Life recipe of the Week: Morning Muesli! (If you'd like to get this free newsletter in your e-mail inbox, click here to subscribe!

Native to South America, pineapple guavas (also know as feijoa sellowiana and guavasteen) are newly in season. I picked some up at my local Farmer's Market yesterday. These egg-shaped fruits are green in color and feel firm to the touch, so it's hard to tell that they're ripe and ready to eat. The farmer I bought them from waits for the fruit to drop on its own from the tree as that means they're ripe. She was giving samples and I liked the tangy flavor. She told me that most people scoop out the pulp, but that it's good also to eat the skin. I tried that, and found it chewy and kind of gritty but with good flavor. If you can get your hands on pineapple guavas, give them a try -- and give your palate a chance to become acquainted with new exotic flavors.

So much of our health science seems to seek as the ultimate goal a pill that will reverse the effects of junk food without making the patient actually give up that junk.

The subtext of this cultural reductionism is that altering, extracting from, isolating, adulterating and fabricating foods is not to be questioned. We just need to keep trying to reverse-engineer nature so that we can get the benefits of healthy foods without having to actually eat them.

Instead of trying to reverse engineer, adulterate, modify, isolate and "enhance" natural foods, all we really need to do is enjoy them -- and the wonderful health they give us when we don't tinker with them.

Can you feel it? The season for fresh peppers is just around the corner. Peppers season officially begins in August. But you can already find green bell peppers, Anaheim peppers and jalapeno peppers (in small quantities) at your nearest Farmer's Market. So start planning what succulent and yummy dishes you'll be preparing to take advantage of the wonderful and unique flavors you can enjoy for the great variety of peppers.

Recently, government inspectors have determined that the recent salmonella outbreak can be traced to "a single Mexican-grown jalapeno pepper handled by a small Texas produce shipper." That means your local Farmer's Market jalepenos are safe.

Recently I've been buying a lot of jalapeno peppers to put in all my meals. I have discovered that you don't have to limit their use to just salsa or pico de gallo. You can cook with them in recipes that call for bell peppers, for instance, and they're not really all that spicy if your remove the seeds and white membranes completely.

I'm even adding them to my raw salads. I seed and derib them completely, then I chop them very finely and add them to my salads and dressings. They add lots of fresh flavor and texture to meals, cooked and raw.

Try them and let me know what you think!

Whole Foods is reading the writing on the wall. As consumers look for way to cut spending costs across the board, Whole Foods implements a value program called "The Real Deal" designed to provide special discounts to thrift-oriented customers. The 28-page quarterly value guide will be available in stores starting July 17, and will feature money-saving coupons, product discounts, meal plans and low-cost recipes. Hopefully "The Real Deal" will also feature real discounts for real foods, not just overly processed organic foods.

On my semi-weekly visit to the Santa Barbara Farmer's Market yesterday, I was buying some wonderfully fresh and moist Thompson seedless raisins (shown in picture above) and some delicious and amazing Sugar Lady white peaches from the Peacock Family Farm stand when I noticed that they also sell eggs. And as a curious writer, of course, I decided to inquire further about their egg production and how they care for their chickens. Debbie, one of the farmers, who was handling the sales at the stand, informed me that the hens roam freely around the farm eating and behaving according to their natural instincts. Although the farm is not certified organic, they do use only organic farming methods and are in the process of getting certified, which is an expensive and lengthy process. Debbie also told me that the hens have been laying very few eggs lately, which she attributes to the stress that the chickens are feeling as a result of the Gap fire near Santa Barbara. That's right. Chickens get so stressed out by distant fires they stop laying eggs. Since the fires started a week ago, the chickens are not behaving like their old selves, Debbie said. I can relate to that; I'm pretty tired of the power outages, the ashes all over my car, the house and fruit trees in my back yard. I've been feeling tired and the fact that I have to breathe the nasty air when I go on my speed-walks is definitely trying my patience. I don't usually eat eat eggs, but if I did, I would want my eggs to come from chickens that live their natural lives in pesticide-free farms where they can run around freely, eat what they want, stretch their wings when they feel like it and dust bathe just like they love to do.

The Organic Center has just released a free pocket guide, which lists fruits and vegetables that pose the greatest risks from pesticides. All conventional produce is grown with pesticides and chemical fertilizers. But some are more heavily sprayed with pesticides than others. Pesticides can cause developmental problems in children and other long term health effects on adults. It's important to eat organic when possible. If you must purchase conventional produce be aware that the following fruits and vegetables are laden with pesticides and should be avoided or simply opt for other produce not on the list of highly toxic fruits and vegetables.

Here is the list of fruits and vegetables that pose the greatest pesticide exposure:

Domestically Grown Conventional Fruits

1. Cranberries
2. Nectarines
3. Peaches
4. Strawberries
5. Pears

Domestically Grown Conventional Vegetables

1. Green beans
2. Sweet bell peppers
3. Celery
4. Cucumbers
5. Potatoes

Imported Conventional Fruits

1. Grapes
2. Nectarines
3. Peaches
4. Pears
5. Strawberries

Imported Conventional Vegetables

1. Sweet bell peppers
2. Lettuce
3. Cucumbers
4. Celery
5. Tomatoes

The disappearance of honeybees is having significant negative impact on California agriculture, where the majority of the world's almonds, avocados, berries, melons and many other agricultural crops are grown. One major culprit contributing to the destruction of honeybee colonies is the U.S. farm bill, which subsidizes conventional agribusiness programs that are directly propagating the destruction of honeybees and other wild pollinators with their growing methods. While the Bush administration is trying to cut those subsidies and increase funding for environmental and nutrition programs as part of the farm bill, congress is doing its utmost to increase subsidies that have a direct correlation with everything that’s wrong with our overly processed and industrialized food supply as well as widespread obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cancer and now, the annihilation of honeybees and other wild pollinators.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, "Domesticated honeybee colonies suffered a 35 percent decline last winter. Wild pollinators such as native bees, wasps and butterflies are suspected to be in sharp decline, too, according to scientists, beekeepers and others at a symposium organized by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., who is struggling to get $20 million in the bill to research the cause of the honeybee decline." Pesticides used in conventional farming, consider “safe” for humans, cause severe damage to insects. It’s believed that these pesticides seriously affect bees causing memory loss and navigation failure driving bees to their destruction. Moreover, the expansion of monocultures of single crops, sophisticated pests and other diseases, are suspected to also exacerbate the bee problem as well as the decline of other wild pollinators including bumblebees, butterflies, bats and hummingbirds.

We elect officials who vote and act in the interest of big corporate America. Capitol Hill lobbyists spend millions of dollars effectively luring our politicians to do their employers’ bidding. It’s no surprise to have a congress that supports the expansion of factory farming and industrialized crop production and do so by trying to cut existing farm conservation programs designed to keep pollinators alive. It is a disturbing notion, however, that it is our own lack of awareness about our food chain and the politics around it that makes this possible. Contrary to popular belief, ignorance is not bliss—knowledge and awareness are what can help our own preservation. Our existence as human beings depends on other living things, including plants and animals. Naturally, all plant life, upon which we depend, requires pollination for reproduction. Plants cannot survive without pollination and we cannot survive without plants. The possible extinction of pollinators caused by our own hands could be the demise of our future generations if not our own.

EXCLUSIVE: A fairly new chocolate company called Fine & Raw will soon be offering online sales, according to the owner of the company, Daniel Sklaar. Most available chocolate is junk food, but Fine & Raw chocolate is a superfood! It's made using raw techniques, processed only at very low temperatures to retain all the natural health properties in cocoa. It's lightly sweetened with low glycemic blue agave nectar, and contains virgin and cold pressed coconut oil. Fine & Raw chocolate is vegan, organic and fair trade. The chocolates are currently available in a small number of stores in New York City. Stay tuned, and I'll give you the details about how to buy online when that information becomes available.

"Natural" products you should avoid; Rapadura and diabetes; and this issue's Vegetarian Organic Recipe of the Week: Homemade Savory Baked Tofu! Go here to read it online, and go here to subscribe free!

In this issue: Your action plan for times of crisis; romanesco cauliflower; purple potatoes; pots and pans; and this week's Vegetarian Organic Life Recipe of the Week, Vegetable Comfort Soup! Read it here!

I told you in November about the pleasures and benefits of "cauliflower of color" -- green, yellow, orange and even purple cauliflower. Now, it appears, the colorful-cauliflower craze that started in California has spread to the UK, according to an article in the Daily Mail. It's now a popular item in some UK grocery stores.

A report in The New York Times today says a caterer working for the United States Olympic Committee (U.S.O.C.) bought a half a chicken breast in a Chinese market that measured 14 inches. After testing it, they found that it "was so full of steroids that we never could have given it to athletes. They all would have tested positive."

As expected, and despite insufficient research, the FDA officially deemed food from cloned animals and their offspring safe for consumption. And not surprisingly, given their track record as the biggest supporters of agribusiness and corporate America such as the powerful meat and dairy industries, labeling of cloned food is not required. What that means is that you will be buying milk or eating a steak from cloned animals or, most likely, their offspring -- but won't have any way to know. Let's get this straight, conventional food is not only laden with pesticides, chemical fertilizers, sewage sludge, genetically modified organisms (GMOs) but now also franken-clones. What's one to do? Naturally, stay informed and buy only organic. Don't let the FDA force you to eat cloned foods.

How to cultivate a healthy attitude; all about mung beans; researchers conclude that most cancers are preventable; and Mung Bean Soup for the Soul -- this issue's Vegetarian Organic recipe of the week! Click here to read it online. Click here to subscribe free!

All beans fall into the super food category, but one of my favorites is mung beans -- also known as moong dal, among other names. Native to India and more commonly eaten in India, Japan, China, Korea, Thailand and Vietnam, these tiny little green beans are not commonly found in American kitchens. Fortunately, most health food stores are beginning to offer them.

Mung beans are highly cherished in ayurveda for their balancing power, high nutrient content and ease of digestion. Anyone who typically avoids beans because of digestive difficulties might find that mung beans are friendly to the digestive system and more importantly, they have cleansing and detoxifying properties. Mung beans are rich in potassium beneficial for the cardiovascular and nervous systems and are also a good source of high quality protein for vegetarian and meat eaters. Mung beans contain lots of fiber, which is essential to keep healthy cholesterol levels. Mung beans are rich in iron, thiamin, magnesium and folate, which help many other bodily functions for optimum health.

Mung beans are versatile and can be cooked in many different ways including hearty soups, casseroles and salads. Mung bean sprouts, which can be eaten raw in salads even contain vitamin C.

It's best not to over-indulge in holiday sweets. But if you must, try Pure Fun's candy canes. They're organic, vegan and all-natural without artificial colors, preservatives or other nasty junk you'll find in conventional candy canes. Pure Fun Candy Canes have just five ingredients: organic evaporated cane juice, organic brown rice syrup, organic citric acid, natural beet extract and natural peppermint oil.

A new U.S. Department of Agriculture survey found that only 7% of all Americans meet the department's minimum recommendations for whole grains, which is three ounces per day. The people who fall into this small group are the same people who "buy organic, read product labels and generally watch what they eat." A incredible 40% of Americans don't eat any whole grains at all.

A vegetarian restaurant in New York City called Counter sells an "organic martini" for a whopping $665. The Martini is called the Organic Iridium Martini. It's made with four pomegranate seeds, sugar water, Square One vodka, peach juice, ice peach oolong tea, rose pedals and one drop of Liquid Manna Iridium. The drink has more to do with creating buzz around a publicity stunt, and less to do with organics or health or anything else. The drink is extremely unhealthy, so why bother making it organic?

All organic cauliflower is healthy and loaded with fiber, folate and vitamin C. Most people think of cauliflower as having white or off-white curd. But more nutritious varieties are available in orange, green and purple colors. Orange cauliflower comes in "cheddar" and "orange bouquet" varieties (this picture shows the "cheddar" cauliflower I bought this morning at the farmer's market), and contain 25 times as much vitamin A as white cauliflower. Green cauliflower is available in "alverda" and "green goddess" varieties. Purple cauliflower is available in "graffiti" and "purple cape" varieties, and contains the antioxidant group anthocyanin. (Note that true purple cauliflower is different from a vegetable sold as "purple cauliflower" in the UK, which is actually a variety of broccoli.)

Lose weight the healthy, natural and sustainable way -- not with quack diets! Plus, celebrate life with gratitude; new study proves superiority of organic foods; and my new Autumn Pumpkin Pie Cake recipe (shown here)! Click here to read it online. Click here to subscribe!

I learned a bit of tomato trivia this morning from my favorite tomato farmer at the Santa Barbara Farmer's Market: The Saturday after Thanksgiving is the nation's biggest tomato-buying day of the year. Why? Because just about every family is making sandwiches with Thanksgiving left-overs, and they need tomatoes for the sandwiches.

I told you back in April that the USDA imposed new rules that require all almonds grown in California to be pasturized with either heat or toxic chemicals, a rule that threatens to wipe out organic almond farmers (California produces some 80% of the world's almonds). But look what I found this morning at my local farmer's market -- raw, whole, organic, unpasteurized California almonds! It turns out that farmers who sell directly to consumers are exempt from the pasteurization rule. So if you live in an almond-growing area, check the farmer's market for unpasteurized almonds.

A recent article written by Sean Armstrong, the husband of the co-owner of Wild Chick Farm provides a revealing account of what's really behind "organic" egg labels. Although organic egg production is definitely a step up from conventional egg production, there is a huge disparity between what misleading labels imply and the awful conditions organic hens are subjected to. For instance, even when not raised in battery cages, tens of thousands of hens are still crammed into large warehouses where they cannot practice their most basic natural animal behavior. Hens go crazy and undergo extremely painful debeaking. Up to half of the chickens' beaks are cut off with hot knives to keep them from eating each other. Additionally, labels such as "natural," "hormone free," "free range," and "cage free," are far from what any consumer might imagine from the false images implied by phony labels and even the names of companies. Many people become vegetarian because they don't want to endorse animal cruelty but the sad reality is that eating eggs and dairy products supports an industry where animals greatly suffer and live painful and tortured short lives and cruel deaths. But most consumers are clueless about factory farming (organic and conventional)—it is what greenwashing is all about. Read the full article to find out some of the specific companies you might be buying your eggs from, their awful practices and how they cheat and lie to you.

Food chain Trader Joe's announced Friday that the company plans to stop selling single-ingredient products made in China over customer concerns about food standards in that country. The chain will continue to sell products that have multiple ingredients when some of them are from China. I applaud the company for taking this step, call on Whole Foods and other chains to do the same, but I also call on these stores to stop selling all products made with any ingredients from China until some credible, accountable organization can be set up to verify food quality and safety there. At present, there is none.

20 Ways to Eat Healthy On a Budget; Why Healthy Food is the Least Expensive; Quinoa: The Mother of All Grains; Golden Twinkie Award for Dieticians of Canada; and the Vegetarian Organic Recipe of the Week: Ejotes Deliciosos (pictured). All that and more in this week's issue!

(From the Vegetarian Organic Life newsletter) Quinoa (KEEN-wa), my favorite grain and possibly the most nutritious on Earth, is an ancient Incan food from the Andes in South America. This wonder grain was considered sacred by the Incas, who referred to it as “chisaya mama,” which means “the mother of all grains.” I agree. It’s certainly revered in my kitchen and often reigns on my dinner table.

This super grain contains complete protein, providing a good balance of amino acids including lysine, methionine and cystine. Quinoa provides more calcium, magnesium and potassium than most other grains. It’s also high in fiber and rich in iron and vitamins B. Quinoa is a great addition to a healthy diet and is super easy to make. No need to complement it with beans but you can to boost protein content for body building.

Quinoa provides complete protein meal all by itself -- a perfect gift from Mother Nature. It has no gluten, it’s easy to digest and makes an excellent substitute for other grains -- especially rice. Any meal that includes rice can be made better, faster, cheaper and more nutritious by substituting Quinoa.

Quinoa should be staple food of every kitchen and should be part of healthy eating plan. I’ve written about it before. But I just can’t stress enough about how delicious, nutritious, simple and quick to make it is. Everyone can benefit from eating this amazing grain -- even diabetics. Need I say more?

A quarter of a cup of Quinoa has 160 calories, 2.5 grams of fat (20 calories from fat and 0 grams of saturated fat), 5 mg of sodium, 29g carbohydrates, 3g fiber, 0g sugars, 6g protein. Most health food stores carry Quinoa in individual packages or in bulk. I buy it through my food coop buying club in bulk (5 or 25 pound bags).

You can eat Quinoa as hot cereal, in salads, in soups or on its own. To cook, rinse 1 cup of Quinoa thoroughly or pre-soak in a bowl with water for 15 minutes then rinse and drain. Add to 2 cups of water or vegetable stock in a small pot or pan. Cook over medium heat until it begins boiling, reduce heat to low, cover with lid and simmer for 15 minutes or until most of the water has been absorbed. Add seasoning if desired and fluff with fork (not spoon).

(From the Vegetarian Organic Life newsletter) The conventional wisdom that healthy food is more expensive than "conventional" food (adulterated, mass-produced, junk and industrial food) is a myth. Don’t believe it.

On the societal level, unhealthy food is far more expensive than healthy food.

Hidden costs come in the form of pollution and harm to the environment caused by artificial fertilizers and contaminated water systems from conventional agriculture and animal factory farms.

If you haven’t already, I recommend that you read Michael Pollan’s book, the Omnivore’s Dilemma. Although I have some issues with the book, I believe Pollan has made some important contributions in raising the public’s awareness about our food chain, factory farming and how corn is in everything we eat and drink. Even the animals raised for meat are fed corn, with 80 percent of corn produced in the U.S. ending up as livestock feed. The rest is added to soda, burgers, chicken nuggets, chips, white breads, candy and all junk food in fast food restaurants and processed foods in grocery stores.

Many don’t realize the importance of the U.S. Farm Bill, which is a nasty form of corporate welfare responsible for providing tax-funded subsidies to giant conventional agribusiness corporations. The government takes billions of dollars from you and me in the form of taxes, and uses that money to artificially lower the price of industrialized or conventional food -- much of it supporting low prices for the junk food that causes our many epidemics of cancer, obesity and diabetes. This transfer of wealth from the public to the junk food giants makes us lose sight of the fact that we are not paying the true dollar cost at the store. For junk food, we pay for part of it at the store or restaurant, and the rest we pay at tax time.

There are hidden costs not obvious to the general public or the uninformed consumer. If you’d like to learn more about the cost of real whole foods versus the cost of conventionally produced foods that are subsidized by the Farm Bill, I strongly recommend you read an insightful article written by Pollan for the New York times on this subject. This article is incredibly eye-opening, and will change forever the way you look at our food supply.

We are paying a very heavy price for unhealthy food -- and will pay even more over time.

Healthy food is cheaper on the personal level, too.

If you define "food" based only on one metric of nutrition -- calories -- then it's possible to argue that junk food or unhealthy food is cheaper than healthy food. Yes, if you want to maximize calories per dollar, junk food is the way to go. But why use calories as the metric? Are you really trying to maximize your calories?

What about vitamins and minerals per dollar? Antioxidants per dollar? Fiber content per dollar? Phytonutrients per dollar? Using these more desirable metrics, healthy, organic, vegetarian food is the cheapest food you can buy.

It’s vital to accept that food is central to health and overall well being. Being healthy without eating healthy is just crazy talk. The negative effects of unhealthy foods may be minor in the short term, but the cumulative effects are devastating.

People eat junk food to save money. But what's the cost of chronic fatigue? Obesity? Heart disease? Cancer? Early retirement? Early death?

You will pay far more in the long run for unhealthy food than you will for good food.

We seem disconnected from the reality of what real food is. Burgers, deep fried chicken, hot dogs, deli meats, fries, chips, soda, donuts, white bread, white pasta, white flours or any other of thousands of processed foods filling the shelters at grocery stores looks like food, but is really a global science project. Such "food" is cheap because it is garbage. It provides little or no nutritional value and it’s usually loaded with sugar, bad fats, preservatives, artificial flavors, artificial colors, GMO’s, pesticides and more, all of which are seriously detrimental to our health.

Healthy food is inexpensive when you consider the hidden cost of adulterated conventionally grown food. Seitan, for example, is typically sold in 8 oz packages for $3.49 or so per package. One pound comes to $7 making it the single most expensive vegetarian protein available. But higher-quality lean meats and other animal proteins are also expensive and often cost more than $7.00 per pound.

The total cost of the seitan meal I featured in a previous issue, for instance, would cost roughly $15 to make but would also provide six generous serving or eight smaller ones. One meal made with one of the most expensive vegetarian proteins comes to $2.50. That’s not expensive. Going to McDonald’s costs you more at the cash register -- plus more at tax time and more at the doctor's office.

Organic tofu is also a great vegetarian source of protein and is significantly cheaper than any type of meat at only about $1.50 to $2 per pound. You can’t beat that -- lots of nutrition for little money.

Soybeans are subsidized by the government but only the ones mainly used to feed animals raised for human consumption. Organic (not genetically modified) tofu is not subsidized.

Tempeh is also very inexpensive. All vegetarian unprepared protein sources made from whole food sources are far cheaper than animal protein.

Some of my recipes also call for quinoa, which is about $1.50 per pound at Trader Joe’s. One pound will give you about 16 servings, that’s less than .09 cents per serving! Other recipes call for beans; again, depending on the type of beans, the price per pound varies between 0.70 cents to $1.79 per pound.

Nutrition education and meal planning are essential in making healthy food choices as well as fiscally responsible ones. As consumers we have to keep abreast of how our food system really works to have clear understanding of not only the role food plays in our lives but also the role we play in our own health.

Is healthy food expensive? It doesn't have to be. And, in the final analysis, is really the least expensive food you can buy.

A recent and hilarious "Dilbert" cartoon mocks corporate management attitudes about health. Click here for the rest of the strip.

The National Park Service and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have collaborated with the non-profit organization, SafeLawns.org, to make four acres of the National Mall in Washington, DC, ORGANIC AND SUSTAINABLE -- as a demonstration of how everyone with a lawn can help protect the environment by going organic. (Note: This post supports Blog Action Day!)

A new documentary called King Corn tackles one of the central realities of what's wrong with our food supply: subsidised corn. As the movie's Web site says, "The breadth of the problem is now clear: the American food system is built on the abundance of corn, an abundance perpetuated by a subsidy system that pays farmers to maximize production.... In 2005, federal subsidies spent $9.4 billion in taxpayer money to promote corn production." As a result, the site says, "Almost everything Americans eat contains corn: high fructose corn syrup, corn-fed meat, and corn-based processed foods are the staples of the modern diet..." The movie opens today, but will reportedly be broadcast in the U.S. on PBS in April, 2008. Enjoy the movie trailer!

am New York has published its top picks of vegetarian spots in New York City. The list includes Candle 79, Angelica Kitchen, Maoz, Counter and Gobo.

According to a recent article, the American Dietetic Association (ADA) says that ten percent of American schoolchildren are vegetarians. The ADA says that "a vegetarian diet can lead to deficiencies in vitamin b12, calcium, iron and protein -- nutrients vital to growing children" and that "parents need to make sure their kids eat a varied, balanced diet and get regular checkups." according to the ADA's spokesperson, "If you're deficient in protein it would impede your height, your muscle mass, your bones and the way your body functions, your ability to fight disease." All true. But the potential nutritional deficiencies possible in vegetarian diets is not what’s plaguing American children. Obesity is. Obesity among school age children is growing at an alarming rate. For the first time in history, many parents are likely to survive their obese children, who develop diabetes and heart disease at very young ages. Kids spend less time exercising and more time in front of the TV eating larger amounts of food they see advertised while watching TV. And that’s not including the additional time they spend in front of computers and video-game consoles. The ADA needs to get real, and spend more time advocating vegetarianism and less time scaring people about its so-called dangers.

A company called EDS described a vision of the shopping cart of the future, which could help shoppers buy food more mindfully. The cart would have a built-in screen and barcode scanner. By scanning foods as they are placed into the cart, the screen would display not only nutrition information, but also the environmental impact of that food.

The California Department of Public Health has issued warning against consuming contaminated Soy Deli tofu products as part of an earlier recall in September of products from manufacturer Quon Hop and Co. The contaminated products may have been distributed to supermarkets and health food stores in the Midwest and West Coast including Albertsons, Andronico's, Lunardi's, Mollie Stone's Market, Pavilion's, PW Markets, Ralphs, Safeway, Save Mart Supermarkets, Stater Bros., Vons and Whole Foods Market. The recall includes "baked tofu in five spice, hickory, honey sesame, teriyaki and savory flavors, mesquite smoke tofu, Hawaiian style fried tofu, nigari vacuum-pack tofu, original, garden, barbeque, teriyaki and Cajun burgers all with date codes on or before Jan. 28, 2008. It also includes water-packed tofu in orange, blue and red, Quong Hop water-packed tofu in red and nigari tofu all with date codes on or before Nov. 28." There are no reported illnesses thus far but an "infection from the bacteria can cause miscarriages and stillbirths among pregnant women" and symptoms include fever, headache, stiffness, nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea.

I'm not fond of energy drinks -- not even "natural" ones. I think "energy" and alertness should come from a healthy diet and daily exercise not from artificial stimulation induced through the consumption of energy drinks loaded with caffeine. As a psychoactive stimulant, caffeine, found in coffee, tea and energy drinks, give you a burst of energy only to later bring you way down. But given the popularity of 100% synthetic Red Bull Energy Drinks, which are full of chemical junk misleadingly sold as "healthy," I'm glad to see a healthier alternative coming out in the market. Syzmo, the first organic energy drink, is made with real ingredients, is 100% synthetic free, has no GMOs and is sweetened with blue agave nectar, which has the lowest glycemic index of all the sweeteners. And what a novelty, the caffeine in Syzmo is naturally derived from coffee unlike its counterpart Red Bull, which contains 100% artificial ingredients including harmful artificial sweetener aspartame. If you're a die-hard energy drink junkie, Syzmo might do a lot less damage to your body.

What baby food is best? Baby food freshly made from scratch using whole organic ingredients as close as possible to their natural states. But if you have to resort to commercially processed baby food, a new organic baby cereal that is the first to be fortified with probiotics and omega-3 fatty acids (from plant sources, naturally!) is launching. Happybellies dry cereals contain probiotics, which "aid in digestion and boost the immune system," and omega-3 fatty acids, which "aid the early infant brain and eye development while potentially protecting against the development of future allergies, including those leading to asthma, and eczema and, as the latest study shows, diabetes. Happybellies organic baby cereals come in three varieties: oatmeal, brown rice and multigrain made with oats, quinoa and amaranth and will be free of pesticides, chemical fertilizers, genetic engineering, soy free, dairy free and produced in a nut-free facility.

Aurora Organic Dairy, the largest private-label producer of "organic" milk in the U.S., has sent legal threats to sue the Cornucopia Institute, Organic Consumers Association and the Center for Food Safety. The letters demand that the public interest groups retract statements they made about Aurora's federal violations of organic food production and labeling laws as well as refrain from suing Aurora for consumer fraud. "The most serious finding, resulting from the USDA investigation, was that Aurora sold, labeled, and represented milk as organic when in fact it was not, in 'willful violation' of the law."

Kaiser Permanente has developed a free online game that teaches 9- and 10-year-olds about healthy eating and exercise. Called "The Incredible Adventures of the Amazing Food Detective," the game takes a novel approach. After playing for about 20 minutes, the game locks players out -- and won't unlock for another hour. The purpose is to get kids to stop playing computer games and go outside for some fresh air and exercise. The game teaches kids how to read food labels, how to measure the amount of sugar in drinks and other health skills.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution will publish an article tomorrow about the growing and welcome trend of parents making baby food from scratch, instead of feeding babies out of a jar. Author Patti Ghezzi talks about how she buys "whatever looks fresh, is labeled organic and, ideally, grown locally." So far, she says, her 10-month-old daughter is loving everything -- except cottage cheese.

In a recent newsletter, I wrote a column called "Mixed Marriage?" about how vegetarians and meat eaters can learn to live together. Today, Newsweek is exploring a similar issue -- about "mixed relationships" involving vegans and vegetarians.

Colleen Patrick-Goudreau’s first book, The Joy of Vegan Baking: Compassionate Cooks’ Traditional Treats and Sinful Sweets, is now available. (Thanks to Green Options.)

A company based in Solana Beach, California, provides its YoZone vending machines to schools, hospitals, health clubs, companies, and tourist attractions. But unlike most vending machines, these are stocked with natural and organic drinks and snacks. (Thanks to TreeHugger)

Prince Charles' new book, called The Elements of Organic Gardening, arrives in U.S. bookstores Tuesday. The book details what he learned on his organic Highgrove estate and after 26 years of gardening. (Via EcoRazzi)

Dr. Rajesh Vishwanathan "explodes" myths about protein, including the myth that more is always better and that animal sources are superior. An excerpt:

1. Too much protein is harmful because it can shorten life; increase the risk of cancer, heart disease risk, increase the obesity and diabetes, osteoporosis, kidney stress, and lead to indigestion

2. High protein-diets bring about temporary weight-loss but at the expense of overall health. Sadly people quickly regain weight once they return to a normal diet

3. A varied vegetarian diet with a balance of protein, fats & carbohydrates, and adequate calorie intake provides more than enough protein

4. Animal protein is an inferior source of protein as compared to vegetarian sources of protein

5. Vegetarian proteins do not include the excess calories from fat and toxic residues, which are found in animal protein and are safe on the kidneys

The Frugal Living section of the About.com site is building up a collection of online, printable coupons for organic products.

Our favorite cartoon, CounterThink, which features concepts by Mike Adams and art by Dan Berger, hits another home run with this piece. (Via Organic To Be)

Whole Foods opened a new 64,000-square-foot store in Silicon Valley's Cupertino, right across the street from an old Whole Foods. The new store is now the biggest in California. It features, according to reports, a tossed-to-order salad station; 400 cheeses; a dedicated olive oil and balsamic vinegar tasting station; and a wide variety of hard-to-find Asian produce. (Via Organic Day)

The Slashfood blog sings the praises of the healthy and delicious -- but weird-colored -- world of green smoothies, and points to four green-smoothy recipes at A Veggie Venture to try out. (Via Slashfood)

In an effort to combat obesity in New York City, the board of health officials want large chain fast food restaurants, which already provide nutritional information when requested, to fully disclose the number of calories next to each meal on menu boards. But a judge has backed junk food restaurants in New York City to keep their meals' caloric information hidden from customers. This means that New Yorkers who go to McDonald's won't readily see that a Big Mac meal contains 1,430 calories or that a triple Whopper with cheese at Burger King contains 1,230. (The average person should consume from 1,800 to 2,000 calories for an entire day.)

The Cornocupia Institute, an organic watchdog group, is taking further action against Aurora Organic Daiy, the largest "organic" milk producer in the U.S. The USDA failed to sanction it despite serious violations of federal organic labeling law. Accoding to this report, "Cornucopia alerted the Agency of Aurora’s irregularities with a legal complaint in January 2005. The USDA closed the case without investigation, for what Cornucopia describes as "political reasons" revealed in documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act by the watchdog group." In November of 2005 the USDA launched an investigation following complaints filed Cornucopia against Aurora for mismanagement practices, including confining their cattle to feedlots, depriving them of fresh air and healthy grazing conditions as required by law, and adding conventional cattle to their operation instead of organic cows that had been raised organically their entire lives. On August 29, the USDA, ruled that Aurora "had willfully violated 14 provisions of the regulations of Organic Food Production Act." But the USDA failed to take any significant action against this fraudulent company, which not only ripped off consumers for several years but also cause monetary and credibility loses to the entire organic dairy industry. Aurora operates a dairy processing facility in Colorado and five giant factory-farms in Texas and Colorado. If you buy the store brands of "organic" milk from Wal-Mart, Target, costco, Wild Oats, Safeway and many other grocery chain stores, then you have unfortunately been another victim of this unscrupulous and shameful company owned by Dean Foods, which also owns Horizon.