Tag: food

NOV 8, 2013 - Here is a topic near and dear to my heart, food and nutrition. Face it, we Americans eat heavily processed food-like substances, and we need to get back to eating REAL food not in a box or a can. I switched over to a "caveman" diet about six months ago. Living in the city, I know that small convenience food stores sometimes don't even carry fresh produce and other types of real food. However, I and rapper-activist Khnum 'Stic' Ibomu believe that if you take some steps, one can afford to eat healthy and nutritious REAL food on a low budget. Stic, some of you remember him from Dead Prez, blogged on HuffPO last month explaining "7 ways to eat on a hood budget". He not only raps and is active in the community, but also runs his "RBG Fit Club" promoting a holistic life and healthy eating. He blogs about how he runs into people saying. "I want to eat healthy but I can't afford it." But he says there are ways to eat healthy on food stamps (or SNAP) and he should know because he was on food assistance growing up. If one travels a little farther, to a national chain, one can eat healthy. For instance here in DC the grocery chain Safeway has fresh produce, frozen vegetables (frozen food if done right is sometimes better than fresh) and other real, normal food straight from Mother Nature and the least amount of processing possible. They are starting to carry quinoa, coconut water and other healthy foods.

Some of Stics (and my) suggestions are:

1) Choose produce, not a box or can. Fresh produce is not only healthier and more nutritious dense, it is cheaper.
2) Cook big and save some for later. I cook a huge bag of lentils, put in storage containers and refrigerate, and then scoop servings out throughout the week.
3) Make homemade soup! Get some healthy broth in a wax cardboard container (read ingredients) and add fresh veggies!
4) Join a local Co-op or community garden. There are many of those here in DC.
My suggestions:
5) Buy what is on sale. Check the flyer and website, and buy only what is on sale.
6) Lentils, split-peas. They are dirt cheap, and are healthy and nutritional dense.

Take your time, shop wisely in only the produce and frozen food aisles, budget your money, and one can eat healthy on a low or "hood" budget. To read all of Stic's "7 way to eat good on a hood budget" read his blog on HuffPo here. Also check out his RBG Fit Club website on leading a holistic lifestyle.  (photo credit: Search Influence/CC/Flickr)

July 15, 2013 - Neambe and Ietef Vita are a couple from Colorado that mix music, activism, healthy eating and family in a unique way, and are featured in a Denver Post article by John Wenzel. They mix traditional African music and family, and work with inner-city kids to educate and empower them to eat non-GMO, organic and healthy foods, and channel their creativity through music to help change their community and lives for their better. They formed "Brown SugaYouth Fest" to hold music festivals and spread their seeds of change at youth centers in the community, and dubbed it "Going Green, and Living Bling". They teach the importance of community and are currently promoting community gardens which JTMP strongly supports. The more food we grow ourselves, the less Frankenfood we have to eat from Monsanto. 

Ietef is better known in the Denver area as "DJ Cavem Moetavation", and has recorded with other artists such as Dead Prez and Arrested Development. He writes songs with a positive message for young kids about organic foods and spirituality. On stage right next to his turntable he will have fruits, vegetables and a blender and promote healthy smoothies and a vegan lifestyle. They attest to the difficulty in their community work, but are dedicated to it. Read more about this awesome couple and their great work on the Denver Post here, and below is a video of Ietef as "DJ Cavem Moetavation" spreading a positive message with his musical activism about not buying that "bag of chips", but reaching for healthy food.

May 25, 2013 - JTMP took part in the  worldwide March Against Monsanto in DC, and over 1,000 food activists showed up to let their voice be heard we want food companies to label the use of any GMOs, and even better yet ban them. The march was focused against the main culprit of poisoning our food supply and using GMOs, Monsanto. JTMP urges our supporters to contact your elected officials and let them now you want GMOs labeled! Check out the video below.

May 24, 2013 - Hundreds of thousands of food activists, worried about the health effects of GMO crops and pesticides sprayed on our food, will be holding worldwide marches against Monsanto and GMO food tomorrow on Saturday, March 25, 2013. You can go HERE to find out a march near you that you can join. Marchers will be calling attention to Monsanto's very unethical practices of squeezing out the small family farms, genetically modifying our food into Frankenfood, and spraying our food with poisonous chemicals that is causing rampant diseases and probably even killing us slowly. They also want to bring attention to the fact Monsanto is trying to patent the seeds of our food supply, so then only private corporations control the food supply. Activists will also be calling on Congress to require labeling of GMO food, which most countries have already done, but is being blocked by Monsanto's lobbyists that have bought and sold the US Congress. JTMP asks any of our supporters that can make it please join one of these marches, for our food supply is very important. Also, please contact both your state and federal Representative and Senators, and tell them you want GMO labeling on all our foods. Check out more info at the March-Against-Monsanto.com website, and check out their Facebook Page here. Watch this video below for more info, and how this march can and will change the world! See you Saturday!!

DEC 4, 2012 - A non-profit organization called Organic Consumers Market is starting a petition to "Dump the Monsanto Rider", which is a "rider" connected to a bill currently in Congress. This rider would allow Monsanto to plant genetically engineered "Frankenfood" crops even when courts rule that the US Department of Agriculture has approved them illegally. The bill is HR 5973, and the rider is in Section 733. Contact your federal representative and tell them to "Dump the Monsanto Rider" and protect the right of the small farmer and consumer to eat non-genitcally engineered crops. Read more and sign the petition on the Organic Consumer Market website here, and learn how to contact your representative; they even have a sample letter ready for you. Also, you can find your federal representative and how to contact them here. Write a quick letter, they are better than a phone call or email.