ROASTED PEANUTS, SUGAR, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF: MOLASSES, FULLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OILS (RAPESEED AND SOYBEAN), MONO AND DIGLYCERIDES, SALT], ANCHOVY* AND SARDINE OIL*, TILAPIA GELATIN, TOCOPHEROLS AND CITRIC ACID (ANTIOXIDANTS).

Seriously? I’m not saying this because I am vegan, but this is disgusting. Guess what? Did you know you can get Omega 3s from these other natural, whole foods?

• Leafy green veggies
• Nuts such as walnuts, brazil nuts, hazelnuts and pecans
• Seeds – just put flax seeds in anything you eat anyway. They are awesome in salads, granola, name it.
• Eggs (you know to only buy the good ones from local farmers, right?)
• Fish (I had to put this in there for pure fact)

Side note: Forget fish all-together though, the first 4 from the list will be just fine for you. Fishing practices are horrific if you didn’t know.

I can only imagine where Jif sources their sardines, anchovies and talapia for their fancy peanut butter.

What do you guys think about this?

local = 150 mile radius
exceptions:

• garlic
• coffee (fair trade only)
• tea
• Texmati rice (checking to see how far away this is grown but definitely in Texas)
• soy milk (because my coffee has to be beige)
• spices
• olive oil (however I have some Texas oil that was made in Carrizo Springs – 196 mi.)

Here is the part about tofu. Matt went to the Austin Farmers Market on Saturday and found some tofu but didn’t ask the guy anything about it. So I will be going there this Saturday in hopes of finding him and getting some info. I was going to list Banyan Foods tofu as an exception but I had a weird experience today. I called them to ask where they get their soybeans from and the guy on the phone told me he wasn’t allowed to tell me. I told him I wanted to know because I wanted my tofu to come from as close to Austin as possible and since Banyan is in Houston I was hoping that they used Texas soybeans at least. Side note, I am having a hard time finding Texas soybean information and this is something I found (however from 2007):

(photo no longer available for some reason – but it showed a drastic decrease in soybean harvesting in Texas)

So a definite decline but really not a lot of info. Anyway, the Banyan guy says all he can tell me is that their soybeans are non-GMO and grown in the mid-west. Grown in the US but not grown in Texas. I asked him why he can’t tell me where they get them and he doesn’t even know, just that he was instructed to not disclose that information. Monsanto, anyone?

Katie pointed me to the video on their homepage talking about how they are eliminating trans fats, MSG and possibly all HFCS even in their sodas.

I posted a tweet about it and within the hour Jason’s Deli replied with a thank you and asked what I like to eat there. I replied I was WF vegan so I would head straight for the salad bar but I also asked if they sourced local produce for their restaurants. They said it would take a little while but they would get back to me and today I got an email from Madison Boozer, a Marketing Representative with this info:

From Kim Andreason, Produce Market Manager:
We have looked into it and are still considering it but is rather challenging considering the number of states we are in now. It is difficult to find an item that is consistent in all areas and lives up to our quality standards. Then again, some of the product is sourced locally without being advertised. Sprouts and mushrooms are both purchased from Texas Growers. Onions and watermelon are also purchased from Texas when they are available.

From Ed Wahlenmaier, GM of our Distribution Company:
Many of our produce items do come from local farms in Texas for Texas delis. These items vary due to availability and or quality. Some of the regional / local items include onions, mushrooms, and sprouts. Some of the other produce items such as the lettuces just do not grow well in Texas or in the south due to the heat. We try to balance our produce options and buy local as much as possible while maintaining a high level of quality.  As a company, we are always making changes to our products to either improve quality or to be more responsible for the environment.

First of all, I am so impressed to get such a quick response about this and that all this stemmed from a Twitter post. I love social media. And most importantly, I know that it must be a challenge for chain restaurants to source locally produced food but to know that Jason’s Deli is not only doing it in some ways but they are also prepared to answer my questions with a realistic response is very impressive. Thank you JD, for knowing this is an important issue.

by: Jill Richardson
Thu Sep 24, 2009 at 22:05:57 PM PDT

More about the destructive fishing industry soon, but wanted to post this link. Oh and no, farmed shrimp is no better than getting it our of the ocean.